The Price Of Redemption, Chapter one
by Spire60
Summary: A Damon/Bonnie story set after the episode" Fool Me Once". Rated M for mature readers over sixteen as it will contain adult themes and language. A better summary is included at the beginning of the first chapter. Please let me know what you think.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Vampire Diaries story. I don't own any rights to either the books, (L. J. Smith you rock) or the awesome C.W. Show. This is not for profit, just for fun. It's based more from the TV series rather than the books. However since I have read them all, it may contain a mixture of personality traits/ background information for the characters from both genres. I'm a big Bamon fan, ( A Bonnie/Damon shipper) I'm rating this M for mature readers since it will have adult themes and language in it. The time frame is set just after the episode "Fool Me Once". Both Damon and Bonnie are in pain following the events of that night. How will they ever find the strength to carry on ? Can Damon forget about Katherine and her wicked deceit ? With all of the horrible things that he has done over the past one hundred and seventy five years or so, is it too late for him to try to salvage his relationship with his brother Stefan ? Can he change from the bad boy that he is? Should he follow Stefan's lead ? Will he be able to quench his vampire thirst by consuming only animal blood instead of drinking the most powerful blood of all, the human kind. What about temptation of another sort? The sins of the flesh ?, Specifically where Bonnie Bennett, Elena's best friend is concerned...

Now she is a force to be reckoned with. One minute she's all petite curves topped by brown bouncing curls, wrapped up in kitten soft mocha skin with a doe eyed innocence and pretty pink kissable lips... The next, she's a fierce, chanting Wicca Druid Ovate full of molten heat, with flushed cheeks, flashing eyes and bristling energy while she dances around holding a fire ball in her hand. Such a deliciously irresistible enticement. Yes, the beautiful little witch has fascinated Damon since the moment he first saw her use her powers. And her blood,..., Oh her blood !, it is absolutely the sweetest blend that he has ever tasted. That is the problem, he did taste her, only once ? Maybe twice. O.K. Anyway he bit her. Oh heck with it, the truth is he attacked her and she probably would have died if not for Stefan giving her some of his own vampire blood to help her heal. Truly Bonnie is not the type to forgive and forget very easily, indeed, as of this moment, she hates Damon with a passion. It doesn't matter to Bonnie that it was while her body was under possession by Emily, or that Damon had acted out of frustration and despair when Emily broke her contract with him. (sigh) Add Bonnie's grandmother to the list of casualties taken while he waged his misguided war to get Katherine back. Damon's thoughts bombard him as he contemplates this last life wasted to his selfish quest. All of it was due to his stupid, blind devotion to Katherine. The harpy who as it turns out never gave a freaking flip about him, or anyone else but herself. Will Damon allow the darkness to swallow him up or will he fight for a chance to change his destiny? What will Bonnie do next? Will she seek revenge on Damon or will she finally grant him clemency and open up her heart to him? Feeling lost and alone, each one caught up in their own separate sorrows will they miss the tell tale signs of danger that still threatens their friends and family, along with the rest of the inhabitants of Mystic Falls ? Let me know what you think, thanks for reading.

* * *

The Price Of Redemption

* * *

DPOV- Licking tongues of white hot flames, their edges alternately glowing bright red, orange, yellow and cobalt burned away wildly. They hungrily consumed everything that they touched. Pungent smoke billowed up around his somber face, stinging his eyes, leaving his nose and throat parched and dry. He could taste the acrid flavor of char and ash in his mouth as a harsh cough erupted from his aching chest. The rest of him was still cold and numb. Memories of the last few months flashed in his psyche like a movie clicked on fast forward. Shadows of "Through the looking glass darkly". That made him shiver...

* * *

His ensemble cast- Elena, the queen...of Robert E. Lee high school at least. (Who was Katherine's modern day twin and may actually trust him), his brother Stefan the King ?..no that was his piece...Stefan was quite pious and saintly wasn't he ?, more like the bishop, still uncertain and overly cautious. Most of the others have been the pawns that he had used in his calculated game of chess. Let's see there was Caroline Forbes-airhead extraordinair and her mother Elizabeth-the lady of Shallot, er sheriff, Vicki Donovan A.K.A. slut, Lexi- Stefan's B.F.F sniff, sniff, Summer ...something ?, even Elena's sexy but clueless aunt Jenna. Of course there had been the warriors, the bold and brave knights- both black and white. (Because of the iconic game and their auras not their skin tone.) Damon wasn't prejudiced, he'd always been an equal opportunity bloodsucker. Check out this list of losers, Logan Fell, Mayor Lockwood and his son Tyler..howlers both of them. Mr. Tanner and Zach Salvatore- sadly a relative, plus Jeremy Gilbert hmmm? Oh yes, Matt or was it Mutt, he could never remember which, and lastly the mighty slayer Mr. Alaric Saltzman. Countless numbers had just been McPeople, meals on wheels so to speak. And then there were the witches, first Emily Bennett, then her descendents, the most recent of them Sheila and Bonnie...

* * *

His dead heart lurched inexplicably, thumping rapidly in response to the image of Bonnie. Like one of Dr. Pavlovs dogs, darn if he wasn't already drooling. Her light floral scent still lingered in the air..How? Was it on his shirt where her hands had accidentally brushed him in passing when he had come stumbling blindly out of the cave?, He refused to admit that his vision had been impaired by swimming tears. Perhaps her perfume still clung to his hair and skin from when he had bent close to her neck and whispered in her ear,

"Sweet dreams little witch, get some rest tonight, because this isn't over between us."

* * *

He had been hoping to scare her as she and Sheila were climbing into Bonnie's car, and it had worked. He recalled the way her warm pulse had spiked and jumped beneath his cool lips. He would sell his soul to the next highest bidder, (assuming it wasn't too tarnished to be marketable), if he were able to use more than just his mouth on her, or better still, in her, and he wasn't talking about his fangs. What in the world?...Here he was sooo ready to rub one out while fantasizing about Bonnie Bennett ! How did he ?..No !, he knew how, the question was why? **Why** did that happen? Shit! His palms were getting sweaty and his stomach felt like he had fifty two ton butterflies flying around inside it. Two ton butterflies, (snort) what was he doing channeling George Bush ? On top of that he had went from being slightly aroused to having a full blown raging hard on in about two point eight seconds. An olympic record breaker for sure, and the zipper of his jeans was digging into it like barbed wire.

* * *

Fate,..what an ironic mythical bitch she was. He had zealously battled to resurrect Katherine for so long, and **now,** knowing that it had all been a fruitless endeavor. **Now **being forced to realize that she had never needed him to save her, never wanted him, (or Stefan either apparently), to join her in a new life, (or un-life as it were). **Now** after the fire at the church, and finally the opening of the tomb's door. **Now** he was going insane! **Now** the only seal that he wanted to breach was the one keeping Bonnie a virgin ! **Now **he knew without a doubt he was crazy as a loon, bonkers, schizoid..well beyond his normal skewered self. Was he wheezing? Can vampires have panic attacks? That had to be it, he was being punished for his dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Then like some twisted vision from Dante's Inferno he detected a distant disembodied voice calling out his name, urging him to move away from this point of no return and the hellish heat that was engulfing his body. Was that an acoustic version of Ozzie Osborne singing Shout At The Devil? No that was originally recorded by Motley Crue. This was.. ? No !, An American Idol / Glee rendition!!! A part of him wanted to scream out-loud, to high heaven.... " Somebody, for God's sake _please_ change the channel on that damn satellite radio ! I abhor elevator versions of classic rock! It's sacrilegious to the Gods Of Metal !

* * *

What he heard was,

"Damon!, Damon! Wake up, you're having a bad dream!"

, Stefan gently shook his brother's slumping shoulder with concern and asked,

" Don't you think you're sitting just a little bit too close for comfort there?, Come on slide your chair back a few feet and I'll put on another log ."

This said as he softly crooned along with a milksop boy butchering Golden Earring's Twilight zone.

"How appropriate",

Damon snarked to himself raising an eyebrow.

* * *

It seemed that he had been so pre-occupied by his deep, dark thoughts that he had fallen asleep and had been leaning perilously far forward, towards the mesmerizing fire. The toes of his black leather boots were very toasty, the soles scorched . Lifting his right foot, he saw a branded indentation mark that matched the welded pattern on the flange of the brass grate that connected to the massive marble fireplace. He frowned and blinked in irritated confusion. His head was throbbing as if he had a bad hang- over and his brain felt totally fried. He fought to throw off the thick wooly blanket of fuzziness that was muddling his mind and formulate one of his usual smart assed replies, always at Stefan's expense of course. Yet when he looked up into his irksomely taller _baby_ brother's face, he could see that Stefan was openly worried about him. Stefan's lanky arms were stretched down, in his right hand he was holding a neat glass of their best bourbon, and in the left three capsules of Elena's extra strength Tylenol. Strangely Damon found that he really couldn't come up with a suitably cruel line. Instead he just accepted the peace offering groaning something about the hair of the dog and downed it in one gulp. Normally they didn't require any human medications or analgesics, but this evening had been far from normal, even for them.

* * *

Ah-ha !, He should have quipped, * At least you're not giving me your shortie's Midol, P.M.S. formula. * Next time he promised himself, then he concentrated on getting his leaden leg muscles to work as he tried to glide the heavy, ornately carved antique chair across the oak floor. He vaguely remembered that the wing-back had always been his father's personal favorite. Just like Stefan had been his father's preferent son....No, don't go there, never again. That particular pain was an old wound best left unexamined for the time being. Before, that singly would have been enough of a reason for Damon to happily destroy the chair by reducing it to a dusty pile of shredded damask and splinters. However,..things were going to change, _he_ was different, _he _was going to change_._ His knuckles absently stroked the muted fabric of the well preserved original upholstery. Silently he mused that in this century, the blasted thing was probably worth a small fortune, and Stefan was welcome to it. TBC....

* * *

BTW-Does anyone else think that this text looks too small? I'm using Neo Office for Mac and had it set to 15, but I think I'll go much bigger with the rest of this story. What font size would you recommend? I couldn't change it with the re-edit tool here on the site, anyone know how? I know...stupid, stupid LOL.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Price Of Redemption, chapter two**

Sparks spiraled about as Stefan deftly added fresh fuel for the flames. The log snapped, crackled and popped as he skillfully stoked and prodded the dying embers to form a growing blaze. Pivoting, he sighed to observe Damon's rather stressed appearance.

His pallor was more pronounced, Stefan was almost certain that his brother had not fed over the past twenty-four hours. The standard sharp predatory gleam in his crystal azure eyes was missing, replaced by dim and hooded orbs of stormy gray. His hair and clothes were tangled and slightly disheveled. His posture subdued, his wiry limbs curling inwards like a child's to form a tight defensive ball while he nursed the re-filled snifter of liquor as if it were a pacifier. Not at all his usual outrageously cocky, sleek dangerous style.

Stefan didn't know who this dejected man was sitting there like an alien in the husk of Damon's hide, but blood was thicker than water. In their particular case that quaint old phrase represented a deadly accurate truism. Even though their relationship had always been a complex mix of affection and sibling rivalry, thanks to Katherine, it had morphed, leading to a long period of nearly outright hatred between them.

In spite of that Stefan still couldn't help being worried about his brother. Resigned he decided that he had to try to help him get through this latest disaster, without anyone else getting hurt or worse,... killed. Well, here goes nothing he muttered...

* * *

"Damon?, are you alright? Do you want to talk about it ?

.......sullen silence reigned, not a peep from the peanut gallery. Stefan took the high road, as was his habit more often than not.

"First let me apologize to you. I'm sorry that things didn't go the way that you wanted it to. I mean, I'm sorry that Katherine wasn't there ...for your sake anyway. I get it, this is your reality, you honestly do love her. I should have come straight home right after...everything,.. to be here for you. But I had to help Elena with Jeremy after Anna had attacked him, and you disappeared so fast. Where did you go? I tried to call you on your cell, but I couldn't get a signal out, interference from the trees I guess. Damon?, talk to me...please?"

Damon wearily dug into his pants pocket and pulled out his blackberry, flipping it open he scowled at it as he tapped a few buttons, then slapped it shut again and shoved it into the inner pocket of his worn leather jacket. Huffing, he griped...

" Those woods surrounding the cemetery sort of gives a new meaning to the term, Dead Zone don't they?"

He grinned crookedly, though it was a small sad one. He was play acting at being his former audacious self, attempting to sling his arrows of sarcasm. And that's exactly what it was,.. all an act.

"Apology accepted, thanks bro...I'll be fine, I'm a regular old energizer bunny don't cha know, I just keep, going, going and going, oh look, I'm gone."

He had tipped the bar glass up and finished the last drop before continuing his bleak melodrama. If Stefan wanted him to talk, then he would talk. Good boys always got their heart's desire didn't they? See if this makes you happy St. Stefan. Damon swore that he would spill his guts, bare his wretched soul, tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And it would be a wrenching, messy, painful ordeal...for both of them.

* * *

" I went to Anna's apartment to confront her about that little stunt that she pulled with **our** Gilberts and **my** Bennett witch."

He scrutinized Stefan for any reaction to his use of the possessive pronouns. As a general rule vampires had a tendency to be rather territorial, and they were no exception to that. A minor stiffening of his jaw was all that Damon could detect. He processed this while Stefan waited patiently, encouraging him with nod.

"I also wanted to ask Mommy Dearest a few very important questions concerning dear beloved Katherine. Didn't get the answer I expected though, and I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do about it yet. "

Stefan's voice was carefully guarded, low and serious- as if he were expecting something dire and dreading it,

" What did they tell you Damon ?"

"Anna knew that Katherine wasn't in the tomb, but she withheld that tiny bit of information from me because she knew that otherwise I wouldn't have helped to rescue her mother."

Stefan's brow furrowed as he pondered his own memories along with everything else that he had learned from the various journals about the events that had unfolded that terrible day. The day that Katherine and the other vampires had been rounded up and locked in the cellar of the church before it was burned to the ground.

"Well, if Katherine wasn't in the tomb, then where was she? Was her body moved somewhere else? Who could have broken the seal and then reset it ? Another witch?"

Damon's expression sort of froze and he stared intently into Stefan's rational gaze. He couldn't believe it, but he was actually glad, and relieved that Stefan had Elena to care for him. If his younger brother sheltered any latent lingering feeling for Katherine that he had been too ashamed of to acknowledge, then this news was going to hurt, possibly as much as it had hurt him.

No, that wasn't correct, **hurt** wasn't a strong enough of a word for it. **Raw** was, he was **raw** **to** **the** **bone** from it. If Stefan remained immune,.. then Damon prayed that he would be to well mannered to say, **I told you so.** Damon lowered his lashes trying to hide the bloody tears that were filling his eyes. He swallowed down the choking lump tightening up in his throat and rasped,

* * *

" You should have asked where **is** she, not where **was** she. Katherine **was** never trapped in the tomb, she **was** never made to suffer. She glamoured the guard on duty at the church. She promised to turn him and take him with her if he helped her to escape. He was obsessed with her. Sound familiar? She had him under her spell, just like everyone else, just like us. He let her escape, **after** they had locked up all of the other vampires inside. Then she killed the guard to cover her tracks.

The last time Anna saw her, she **was** living in Chicago, IL. That was in **1983**. All of this time, she knew where we were, ...where I was. She didn't care, not even enough to send us some cheap, cheesy greeting card or make a simple phone call...Hell, I have no idea where she **is** today."

Damon was teetering on the abyss of a nervous breakdown, first ranting,

"Fuck it ! It's finished !, I'm done with her forever!," ....

Then wailing,...

" Oh God Stefan !.. I've been such a fool !.. All of the horrendous things that I have done, I did for her ! To find her again! I've committed every imaginable sin, to emulate her ! To be ready, to have the kind of experience that would make her proud of me !, So that she would desire me too ! My entire existence since she changed us, more than a century ago, has been completely pointless ! "

Damon couldn't hold the bitter tears in check any longer. They spilled out and trickled in bloody rivulets down his cheeks as he sobbed brokenly, dropping his head into his hands…Stefan stood motionless, utterly stunned by the realization that all along Katherine had been out there, somewhere, free to roam the world, led by whatever evil whims she may.

While Damon, poor misguided Damon, he had been left behind, to rot in a private prison, bound by chains, most of the links designs of his own making. Descended to Hades, suffering in Dante's stead, Damon had shattered. The anguish stripping him bare, the guilt skinning him alive with razor sharp claws. As for regret, it had roasted him on a spit, a meal fit for a demon. The juicy morsel of his soul baked to a shriveled crisp, the last crumb of an unappealing appetizer left on the platter to discard after the party was over.

* * *

Moisture rimmed Stefan's own eyes as he went to Damon's side and wrapped his arms around his brother. Tenderly he cradled him against his chest and began to rock him like a infant in a soothing rhythm... During their childhood Damon had often comforted him in a similar fashion, especially after their mother had died. Their roles were temporarily reversed. They clung to one another, savoring the shaky return of the closeness between them that they had each stupidly put aside, so long ago.

It was that special kind of kindred affection that develops only within your immediate family. Most commonly to brothers and sisters, though it can also include grandparents and parents, aunts, uncles and cousins, spouses and in-laws. The various combinations and expressions remain as unique and multi-faceted as the individuals involved are themselves. You never really completely outgrow the bonds that tie you all together, or mature beyond the need for the simple shared connection of that love .

After a few minutes Stefan's phone started ringing..... Damon's sobs had lessened and they had mutually( and awkwardly) pulled apart at the same time. Somewhat embarrassed by his emotional outburst and his uncharacteristic show of weakness Damon had hastily gotten up out of the chair and went in search for a box kleenex.

Stefan hustled over to the desk where he had left his phone on the charger. He checked his recent caller list and saw that he had a voice mail from Elena. As he listened to it, he could hear the rising panic in her tone. There was an emergency at Bonnie's grandmother's house. Sheila Bennett had collapsed and Elena had called 911. She wanted Stefan to call her back as soon as he was able to.

* * *

Hitting Elena's speed dial number, Stefan raced up the stairs to grab his car keys . Fleetingly he thought, (**What am I going to do with Damon ?, I don't think he should be left alone tonight. I'll have to take him with me.)** Then he yelled loudly,

" Damon!, Damon!, come quick!, Elena called! Something's wrong with Sheila Bennett!, she's passed out and not responding!, an ambulance is on it's way. Elena and Bonnie are there with her and they need us.."

In a blink, Damon was standing in the hallway with the keys to the jag in one hand and his boots in the other. He must have been taking a shower. His hair was dripping wet, his freshly laundered jeans and another black tee were damp too, as if he's pulled them on without drying off with a towel first. He had also donned a pair of mis-matched socks, however his eyes were clear and glittering again. With an arched brow, a wink and a devastating smirk he said,

"O.K., what are we waiting around here for dick wad ?, let's roll bro !, Oh by the way if you tell anyone about our little touchy-feely EMO vampire Twilight moment I'll go all berserker and castrate you with a big sword."

Stefan's laugh was one of mixed empathy. One half of him in merriment that Damon seemed better. The other half with trepidation. How much of the demon in his brother would rebound as well?, Stefan was sure that he would find that out soon. For now he should concentrate his energy on helping his friends. He whispered a small prayer of healing for Sheila. Then he teasingly reassured Damon as they headed outside.

" Don't worry, Your secret is safe with me. I swear my lips are sealed, no one would believe me anyway. A big sword huh? Who do you think you are now, Eric Northman ? Maybe you've been watching too many episodes of HBO's True Blood."

" Yeah well, In my book Viking Vampires rule, and besides he could kick Edward's pussy ass any day, or I guess in his case it would have to be any **night**, of the week. Though as much as they get paid for it, sometimes their scripts suck, and not in a good way I might ad. Don't you think that the writers on that show could come up with a way for him to be able to be out in the sunlight, without xeroxing the Cullen's going all pretty and sparkly crap?

Stefan chuckled wiggling the fingers on his hand.

" You mean like our magic rings ?"

" Yes !, exactly Einstein !, it's not like it's some kind of rocket science dude,... But you gotta give Charlain Harris big kudos for that radical sic idea of the japanese synthetic blood drink. Don't you wish that was real? I mean just think about all of the problems that we could have avoided over the years if we had a nifty twelve pack of that in the fridge instead of our stale old box of baking soda. No more midnight runs chasing Bambi for you, or human flavored monster energy drinks for me. That would so rock, ..."

Night of the Hunter by 30 Seconds To Mars blasted out from the Bose speakers. The brothers debated the merits of Sookie Stackhouse over Bella as Damon fluidly shifted the gears of the jag and buried the gas pedal to the floor. TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note- Thank-you so much for the kind encouragement. Karma hugs and kisses out to everyone who took the time to give me a review or add this story to your favorites / alert lists. I really appreciate the feedback. BTW- Any little comic digs about the other "vampire" franchises out there aren't meant to be serious, just a snarky cut up from TVD character's perspective as if they are "real" watching the rest as make believe. No offense is intended. (Actually I'm a big fan of True Blood and have another story here in the Southern Vampire Mystery book section. It hasn't been updated in a long while because my old windows computer died on me and I had to save for a new one. I switched camps and now have a shiny new Mac. Yeah! My muse has re-awakened. To those of you who have been waiting so patiently on Ever Dream, I hope to finally finish that saga once I get my teeth,... er -mayhap fangs, back with this Vampire Diaries lusty fable). I do love undead bad boys like Damon. O.K. enough prattle from me, on with the tale of....

The Price Of Redemption-Chapter Three

* * *

Unfortunately there are times when neither vampire reflexes nor Jaguar AJ-V8 engines are quite fast enough, and no matter how fervent the prayer God seems to turn a deaf ear to it. This was one of those times. Both brothers could hear the blaring sirens rend the sleepy peacefulness of the small town miles before the Jag was able to streak past the brightly painted " Welcome to Mystic Falls sign".

Damon was pushing the custom designed vehicle to it's limits, until the division between vampire and machine blurred. The car had became an extension of himself, with Stefan along for the ride. They practically flew down the road, recklessly ignoring the posted traffic signs and signal lights. Damon swerved in and out of his lane with ruthless precision, braking and accelerating to avoid any contact with the random on- coming traffic. He dodged potholes and late-night pedestrians with practiced ease.

Fearlessly he raced a speeding freight train. The Jag's shocks bouncing hard over the uneven tracks, bottoming out with a grind to trail sparks in their wake. All just seconds before an automatic orange and white striped crossing guard arm lowered and the smoking locomotive barreled through the intersection.

A few blocks down the street Damon spun the steering-wheel hard for a sudden hair pin turn. As their car approached the modest arts and crafts inspired bungalow at 211 Oak St. they came to a tire squealing stop. An ambulance along with a Fairfax County squad car were already parked in the driveway and set on full alert mode.

Stefan cursed under his breath,

"Damn, I was hoping that we would beat the authorities here."

Damon nodded in grim understanding and agreement,

"You were planning on giving Sheila some of your blood, to heal her the same way that you did Bonnie after I....well you know. Now, with so many witnesses in the way, we'll just have to wait and see how things go."

Stefan frowned in consternation,

"Yes, it's dicey any way that you cut it. Let's find out how serious her condition is, Elena will invite us inside."

Damon summarily pulled the Jag over to the curb. As they slid out of the flashy crimson toy, he gave his beauty an affectionate caress before he hit the key fob to engage the locks and alarm system. Stefan chortled at his actions, then the pair strode purposely down the sidewalk and up the wide steps that lead to the house.

Standing on the large front porch it seemed as if they had stepped back in time. Frank Lloyd Wright himself would have been honored to see how authentically the home's original 1918 architecture had been maintained. From the natural slate roof with it's low tapered overhang to the warm cedar siding and solid walnut squared pillars, the house echoed with a calm, quiet strength.

Stained glass accented the windows and two hammered copper light fixtures were shining softly on either side of the mission oak entry door. That item they noticed, (along with it's companion black wrought iron screen door), had been left propped wide open by a granite doorstop in the shape of a cat. Sensing their presence, Elena looked up and mouthed the words " come in". They exchanged solemn gestures of greetings.

Once inside they could make out that the bulk of the activity was occurring in the living room. With it's green and gold tinted walls, wooden beamed ceiling, classic built in bookcases and a glowing limestone fireplace, the space was as lovely and stylish as it's owner was. The furnishing were an eclectic mix of Tiffany lamps, rich multi-colored bohemian fabrics and relic tables.

They didn't linger about lackadaisically admiring the décor though. Strategically Damon paced across the planked mahogany floor to lean against the far wall by the windows. Thus insuring that he had an excellent vantage point to keep watch on whoever (or whatever) entered or exited the house.

Without any further hesitation Stefan moved to be close to Elena and Bonnie. The best friends were sitting together on the sofa, looking a little worse for wear as they were both still dressed in the same outfits that they had worn to the cemetery earlier that evening. Elena was hugging Bonnie supportively, the little witch seemed to be in deep shock. She was clutching her grandmother's heavy, leather bound Grimmore in her lap and weeping softly. Sheriff Forbes, (in her on- duty uniform), was hovering by the love-seat, too tense to actually use it.

* * *

All three of the women were intently observing the E.M.T.S as they worked on Sheila's prone form. The elderly witch was laying limp and unconscious on her back in the middle of the floor. She was surrounded by an assortment of opened packages of used medical supplies, swabs tubes and syringes. The E.M.T.S were performing C.P.R on her. She wasn't responding. The first tech called out briskly,

" No pulse !, no respiration !"

The second tech prepped the portable AED defibrillator and attached the electronic pads to Sheila's chest as the first continued the C.P.R. With a press of a button, the high pitched pinging whine from the unit was followed by the first tech's assertive call of,

"Ready !..., then..., clear !",

Sheila's svelte torso jerked slightly as the techs attempted to shock her heart into beating again. They repeated the procedure to no avail. The matriarch's body was just too worn out, her internal organs over taxed by all of the recent strain that she had borne. Her fight for life on this Earthly plane had ended, she'd passed on to the next...

Sheriff Forbes knowingly met the lead E.M.T's eyes. He somberly shook his head negatively and began to ready Sheila's body for transport. Both men placed her motionless corpse on a nearby raised gurney as Sheriff Forbes radioed ahead to inform the coroner that he would need to meet them at the hospital. Bonnie's sobs immediately grew louder,

" No !, Grams !, Wait !, Wait !,"

Rising up from the sofa she slapped Elena's restraining grip away and walked over to the slim metal bunk on wheels . Facing the E.M.T.S. She pleaded,

"I'm begging you,...(sob),...don't take her away,..(sob)..not yet, (sob), I have to tell her something, (sob) It's important."

Bonnie was still holding the Grimmore. She leaned down towards her grandmother's face and in a hushed voice she cried,

" I need you to hear me Grams,(sob), I'm so sorry , this is all my fault. (sob) I wasn't strong enough, (sob) I blew it.(sob) Oh ! Grams !, I love you so much ! "

Totally distraught Bonnie was racked by grief, she swayed on her feet and dropped the bulky bound spell book, it landed on the area rug with a splatting thud. She would have fallen too, if it weren't for Damon. In an instant he had leapt away from the window and swept Bonnie up in his arms Rhett Butler style.

If anyone in the room other than Stefan and Elena noted that his actions revealed his innate preternatural speed and grace, they wrote it off to an over- active imagination brought on by the late hour and the tense situation at hand. Damon's piercing blue gaze swept Bonnie from head to toe. She was trembling and had gone ashy pale beneath her normally creamy mocha skin. Her big brown eyes were red rimmed and swimming with tears, salty tracks had traced her cheeks and made her lips swell. Hazily she focused on his face and whimpered,

" Why?,...Damon ?,.. Why did you have to come here?,.. What do you wa..?"

Whatever else she was trying to say to him faded into an unintelligible mumble as she fainted. For the second time that evening Damon felt something tug painfully at his dead heart. When he had watched Bonnie weep and blame herself for her grandmother's weakness, she had seemed so desperate and sad. He had longed to do something,.. anything to ease her suffering.

After all the Bennett witches had been trying to help the vampires,.. well Stefan and himself anyway...Reluctantly at first of course, but in the end they had gotten them into the tomb by counteracting the spell, breaching the gate . And more importantly, had let them out again afterwards by keeping the enchanted seal lowered long enough for he and Stefan to escape.( Along with Anna and her mother Rose.)

Once again Damon had been reminded of when he and Stefan had lost their mother. They had been so young. Younger than Bonnie was. But that didn't really make a difference did it? Separation from a loved one hurts, no matter what the age of those involved. Even if you are centuries old...Even if the reason for the severed relationship is worse than death. Exhibit A- the whole sordid mess with Katherine. What a great fiasco that had turned out to be.

That fresh cut throbbed deeply, leaving him empty, aching, and needy...So much so that when he had realized that the little witch was about to crumple, he just reacted on pure instinct and adrenalin. He wanted to cauterize the emotional hemorrhage, for both of them, so he simply jumped up, reached out, and caught her. And then pulled her to him.

* * *

How could he resist this temptation? This feeling of Bonnie in his arms, so small and frail, yet so warm and soft. Her satiny skin smelling of sweet amber spices, her silken hair scented with white orchids...Her pulse like a beating drum calling to him with her own blood magic song. All he wanted was a chance to hold her close, to keep her safe, to touch her flesh, kiss her lips, have a taste....He would do it !, He could claim her ! She would be his reason to go on !...She could be his everything !

He had sworn to Emily that he would protect the Bennett witches forever, and he had. Everyone of them, Sheila included, until the lifeline on her palm had run out. When she was a girl she had been beautiful and feisty, then she had grown into an aggravating know it all, finally maturing into one of the most powerfully gifted women from her clan.

Damon smirked, Bonnie had inherited a few of those same traits. Sheila would always be missed, but she would live on in her granddaughter. Yes, he had made a vow and unlike Emily, or Katherine for that matter...He always kept his promises. That was enough of a why.

Elena and Stefan had hurriedly rushed over to where Damon now held Bonnie cradled against him. Sheriff Forbes followed right behind them. She motioned for one of the E.M.T.S to join her. Damon tightened his grasp under Bonnie's knees and around her shoulders so that she wouldn't slip as the E.M.T. examined her. The human quickly took her pulse and respiration then waved an ammonia capsule under her nose. Bonnie's eyes fluttered open wearily, then frowning she scrunched her face up and waved her hand over her nose complaining,...

" What happened? What is that foul smell ?"

Everyone looked relieved as the E.M.T. Asked her a few more questions.

" You passed out Miss, Can you tell me your name?"

"Yes, it's Bonnie, Bonnie Bennett,.. Damon? Is that you? Why are you carrying me? Where's Elena?, Stefan? Where are you guys?"

Bonnie remaining a bit confused, began to panic, she was turning her head back and forth searching for her friends when they both zoomed into view and Elena reassured her.

" I'm here Bonnie, so's Stefan and Damon, he saved you from a fall...You were upset about Grams..."

Bonnie's vision locked onto Damon's suspiciously, but the undisguised depth of tenderness in his indigo expression took her by surprise. She felt her bottom lip start to quiver as she remembered. Then he quietly said,

" Shhhh, hush, hush, little wh...Ah I um mean bit, **little** **bit**, It's going to be all right. **I'm** **here** **for** **you** **too**, and I'm not about to leave any of you **young people** **home** **alone** after what's happened. I'll call your father and let him know about Sheila. The four of us will stay here until he can return. Or if you're not comfortable with that, we can all go spend the rest of the night at **our** house, **The** **Salvatore** **Mansion."**

He had almost let **little witch** slip out right as Sheriff Forbes was listening in on their conversation. **Little** **bit** ?, Who was he kidding, he was certainly no **Pa**. Elena and Stefan's mouths were hanging open in question at the vague reference to the "Little House On The Prairie/ Laura Ingals Wilder series. The nick-name of the lead character was the quickest cover-up that he could think of. He had read the books. **Not**! (Re-runs on T. V. were **so** much easier anyhow).

However, when the nosy lady with the badge met his eye he decided to play his * adult status* trump card, and toss in a smidgin of his vampire powers of compulsion for good measure. The Sheriff patted Bonnie's arm sympathetically after the E.M.T.S had given her a shot laced with a mild sedative to help her calm down.

" My condolences sweet heart. Elena told me earlier that your Dad was out of town on business, but I'm sure he will be home as soon as he can be. You try to get some rest now, honey. I'll check back with you in the morning."

"Thanks", Bonnie murmured, she was already drifting off listening to the lulling sound of Damon's simulated strong, steady heart beat echoing in her ear. (Damon mutely commended Buddha and the Zen priest turned vampire who had taught him how to temporarily master this autonomic response back in nineteen -sixty five. Those groovy Haight Ashbury years sure had paid off.)

Sheriff Forbes addressed Damon next,

" Mr. Salvatore, that sounds like a sensible plan, I'll take care of everything on my end, you just tend to the demands of the children. I'll be in touch. Oh and if there's anything else that you find you need, or if you have any other questions, please feel free to call me at the station.

By the way, I put Mrs. Bennett's old family journal on the dining room table, I picked it up after Bonnie dropped it in the entryway. You wouldn't want anyone to trip over it now would you? Good-night you-two, Elena, Stefan."

* * *

As soon as the authorities were gone Damon rolled his eyes, then carefully swung the sleeping Bonnie securely in front of him and asked Elena ,

"Which way?",

She arched a brow and pointed,..then stalked a few steps behind him.

" Down the hall and to the left. Pa! Or should I just call you John Boy ! That load of bull that you were spewing to the Sheriff about wanting to take good care of us kiddies while we're all alone made me want to hurl! Did you intend for Sheila to die?"

Stefan was directly on her heels, practically bursting with his own inquiry,

"Damon!, What's really going on here?, What other kind of magical spell do you plan on using Bonnie for? Can't you see that she's been through enough already!, Why don't you just leave her be?

Damon ignored their ranting and instead retorted in a soft, soothing voice so he wouldn't wake Bonnie.

"If you're not going to help me make her comfortable, then get out.... You're staying?.. Good, now Stefan could you please fetch me a basin of warm water, a washcloth and some soap?, While Elena will you try to find Bonnie a clean gown and some undies to sleep in ?"

Elena balked, " You are absolutely not taking her clothes off!"

Damon smiled at her wickedly and then winked,

" Well then, I guess you're going to have to play nursemaid and give her a sponge bath while I go call big Daddy. I'll be back in twenty minutes. Oh and Elena, you and Stefan don't have to worry about me ever harming Bonnie again. Or anyone else hurting her either. Because I swear, if anyone does, then I'll just have to kill them. Hell, I'd sooner face the sun than see her cry, especially like she did tonight. Once was enough, thank-you ....I love her too much for that....

Stefan and Elena gaped at each other, momentarily speechless over Damon's latest newsflash before Stefan looked at his girlfriend and said.....

" Oh My God!, I think he really is serious about this. I guess? At least he honestly **believes **that he means it. But it's too soon after what he found out. Christ! I knew something strange was going on with him...Particularly after what happened at home earlier tonight following the tomb incident,.. between us, before you called me. Oh Elena, I swore to him that I wouldn't say a word to you, but now... I don't know, I've never seen him behave this way. I'm afraid he's gone round the bend, worse than usual. I'm very worried about him. I have to tell you something that Damon discovered concerning Katherine and her whereabouts. Elena, she broke his heart." TBC......


	4. Chapter 4

The Price Of Redemption, Chapter 4

Damon sat at the dining room table sorting through the pile of contents that he had previously dumped out of Bonnie's favorite purse. Mirroring his familiar crow form using quick bird like mannerisms he separated each item, inspected it, logged the information away in his photographic memory, then proceeded on to the next. These were all of the things that Bonnie deemed important enough to carry with her every day.

Most were ordinary and mundane niceties of this era's modern life, her comb, a manicure set, tweezers, a zippered bag of cosmetics, kleenex, and a small jar of moisturizing lotion. She had added a tube of anti-bacterial gel, a few bandaids, a sewing kit complete with scissors and couple of safety pins. What were these? A packet of baby wet-wipes ?,O.K. whatever.. Oh here we go,..sniff-sniff, mmm sublime- a bottle of her perfume. Indulgently Damon sprayed some onto his own wrist and inhaled the same spicy/sweet exotic scent that always clung to Bonnie's delicious skin.

The "purse" list went on and on...cough drops, breath mints, a lighter , but interesting enough no cigarettes. Good, he detested the bitter after taste of nicotine in the blood of women who smoked. Smiling satanically he recalled that he had never once detected even a lingering trace of tobacco on Bonnie. He would put money on it that the lighter was only an emergency back-up for his precious little fire starter. When he came across a travel sized box of tampons and some Pamprin tablets he hastily shoved them back into the purse, along with a bunch of other things that he had classified as "Bonnie's girl-scout supplies." Damon snorted, indeed the little witch's motto seemed to be "prepare for just about anything."

Digging in another flap he found a note-book and an ink pen, a much used and wrinkled up mini-street map of Mystic Falls, (Hmmm he thought, her car must not have a G.P.S. in it), a few credit card bills and an old letter from Caroline Forbes that included this season's cheerleading practice schedule. Heck, she even packed a mag flashlight with a canister of pepper-spray attached to her keyring. As enlightening as rummaging around in her personal possessions were, he still hadn't found what he was looking for. Where the hell was her cell phone?..

Picking up the sizable handmade hobo bag again, he ran his fingers over the seams and found a raised flaw in the stitching. There was something odd about it, he could feel a stiff ridge of velcro cleverly disguised beneath it. Carefully prying the velcro apart he discovered an oblong hidden pocket sewn in. Ka-Ching! He hit the jackpot ! He should be playing the slots in Vegas. He pulled out her I-Phone and a few other unexpected treasures.

* * *

Among them a tiny leather pouch that contained vervain. **That** he would definitely have to be careful with. A.K.A. Find out how recently Bonnie had consumed the cursed herb that was lethal only to vampires. (He thought about tossing it in the trash, but then changed his mind. If Bonnie were ever again caught out alone and attacked by another errant member of the undead club- like Benji boy, or Anna the brat, then they wouldn't be able to compel her. And if they bit her, well then it's a good assumption that Bonnie would get her justified revenge rather swiftly.

Not that Bonnie's own powers didn't help her with that as well. Yes, the combination of the two, magic and poison, would still be her best initial line of defense. At least until he or Stefan could arrive and intervene. Of course he didn't plan on leaving her bereft and left on her own anytime soon.)

Bonnie's concealed stash also revealed three slim candles, one red , the second green, the last blue., a five-inch carved wooden disk, (no doubt from a Druid's sacred oak tree), one side depicted the wren, the other entwining circles of the four elements, fire, air, earth and water., Ah? this appeared a tad dangerous- an athame, a black-handled double edged dagger used in rituals., a censer of incense, a stang wand, and last but not least, a slender well worn booklet that was written in a foreign language, probably Old Gaelic.

Ar nDraiocht Fein- the title stated. Damon knew some Gaelic and tried to read and translate a few lines from the prologue, "Agus ei cron aon duine, dean an rud thu toil. -An it harm none, do what ye will."

" Dean an rund thusa toil gum bi an slan dhe an lagh, gaol tha lagh, gaol fodha toil. -Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. Love is the law, love under will."

Bonnie was studying the Druid Wiccan Rede, their creed . Was she taking the ancient theme to heart? Had Sheila followed this same path her whole life? That would explain why it hadn't been Latin that the witches had been chanting in at the tomb.

Emily had bragged about the fact that all of the members of the Bennett family tree were direct descendants from the original Salem Witch covens. Now he suspected that their roots could be traced clear back to the builders of Stonehenge.

Damon reached across the table and lifted the thick tome that was Sheila's Grimmore. He cautiously began to thumb through the yellowed pages, fully expecting to be zapped by a lightening bolt to the head at any minute. So far, so good he sighed.

With each glimpse inside of what he had always imagined to be forbidden fruit territory he felt his nervousness fade. In it's place was a growing reverence and grudging respect for the vast wealth of knowledge it contained. The spells were complex compositions of various blended dialects and numbered codes, each chapter meticulously penned by different hands over the years.

Surely this collection deserved the honor and distinction of being continually passed down from generation to generation within Bonnie's line. This was her history, her inheritance. He wouldn't steal it from her.( Perhaps he could merely borrow it for a while.)

So much of who she was, where she came from, and who she would turn out to be was laid out paragraph by paragraph in this warded book of light and shadows. Overall the balance of white magic outweighed the black. How was it possible that he, Donnie Darko himself, could hold it in his hands and delve into it's secrets without harm?...

* * *

That was the key word wasn't it, **harm,... **Damonre**-**read the passage from Bonnie's Druid Rede... Anitharmnone,dowhatyewill.. **Love **is the law, love under will, and you will get threefold return. If a spell is cast unjustly, the effects will rebound on the spell-caster in triple strength. Represented by the Trinity Goddess and her male consort the Horned God of The Forest. He had missed that last part earlier...

He had harmed, so many,...maybe too many. He had forced the Bennett witches to use their magic for him twice, no three times counting this last night. Emily, Bonnie, and Sheila, they had each suffered a staining blot upon their karmic journeys because of his actions. He didn't like the way this train of thought was making him feel. It was uncomfortable, this shame. Guilty as sin?, yes he was. Mainly about Bonnie.

Love is the law... He honestly hoped to be able **love** her, if she would only **let** him. She was more or less an innocent bystander injured in the melee between him and Emily. Like cotton candy- that saccharine, toothache inducing epigram of "what goes around, comes around" kept twirling in his mind until he was queasy. Katherine had set him and Stefan upon a philosophical carrousel ride that had spun on for far too long.

What time was it anyway? 2:45 a.m. It was either very late, or really early depending on how you looked at it. He was completely exhausted from attempting to decipher the difficult text and by examining the quagmire that was his conscience. Plus, he still had to call Bonnie's father and tell him about Sheila. Stefan would be so proud. Damon Salvatore, the Plato of the vampire community, yippie-skippy he was nigh on close to becoming an urban legend in itself.

He closed the Grimmore and slid it towards the middle of the table, then he tucked everything else,(except Bonnie's cell phone), back into her purse. Tapping the touch screen, he scrolled down the contact list and found the number to the hotel where Mr. Bennett was staying. He stood up, stretched his aching muscles and began to pace the floor while he waited for the human to answer.

* * *

"Ah ?...a deep groggy voice says...Hello? ( noisily clears his throat) less garbled now... Hello?"....

Damon's tone is even keeled and professional, (like those I'm not a Doctor, but I play one on T.V. commercials.)

" Mr. Bennett?, ...I apologize for calling so late. This is Damon Salvatore, my younger brother Stefan goes to school with your daughter Bonnie."

" Bonnie!,.. Oh my God !, Has she been in an accident?!, Is she all-right?! Where is she?!, What about her car?!"...

Mr. Bennett was understandably worried after getting startled awake by an unexpected pre-dawn phone call. And as the father of a young teenaged driver he had automatically jumped to the conclusion that there had been a collision between Bonnie and Stefan's automobiles. Damon tried again to sound as reassuring as he could be, given the bad news that he had to impart...

" No!, no...Mr. Bennett, Please calm down. Bonnie is safe and sound, she hasn't wrecked her car. She's not in the hospital. As a matter of fact, we're all here at your mother's house, and your bella ragazza ( beautiful girl) is fast asleep in the guest bedroom right now. "

" Well, then who the hell are you? And why are you using **her** phone?, come to think of it,..why are **you** even there at this time of the night?, " "**Who** **else** is with you?, I think I need to speak with **my** **mother...** "

Damon dreaded this, he was normally far from subtle, or cared to be. And he was completely out of practice when dealing with delicate family dynamics, or irate fathers. For over a century he and Stefan had been lucky if they could exchange more than two words together without fighting. They had existed more as strangers sharing the same boarding house rather than brothers. He sighed deeply, then continued without any further hem- hawing around,

" I'm afraid it's not possible to converse with Sheila anymore Mr. Bennett,(not unless it's via a séance or a Ouija board, he thought.) You see that's why I'm calling. I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but your mother collapsed a few hours ago. The E.M.T.S did everything that that could, sadly she never regained consciousness, they think it may have been a heart attack. She's gone Mr. Bennett. "

" What,..when...how? My mother's dead?... Oh No!..Dear God.. no...sob,"

The man broke down into sobs, and Damon allowed him a respite to absorb the shock and get himself under control before he starting speaking again. Sob, sniff,cough- Mr. Bennett's voice was quiet and shaky... " Forgive me if I was rude before, my nerves are rather frazzled. Did I hear you say that your last name was Salvatore ? I seem to remember Bonnie mentioning that her best friend Elena was dating a kid named Stefan Salvatore, that's your younger brother correct?"

"Yes, I'm his legal guardian since our own parents passed away seven years ago. Stefan, Elena and I are all here to support Bonnie until you can return home. I know that we've never been formally introduced, but Sir please let me assure you that both my brother and I will conduct ourselves as absolute gentleman. We would never take advantage of an unfortunate situation, with either of the young ladies present. We are all mourning this great loss. Your mother was an extraordinary woman. Please consider us to be friends of the family. We offer our assistance as needed.

Elena's Aunt Jenna was informed and Sheriff Forbes was here and made an official report. She left to go consult with the coroner about an hour ago. I'm sure she'd be happy to speak with you if you have any other questions. I have the number at the station if you need it."

" Thank-you Mr. Salvatore, I already have the number programed into my laptop. I'll contact her. I will have to notify my boss that I'm leaving the conference early. I plan to take the next flight out and I should be able to make it home by mid-afternoon. When Bonnie wakes up, please tell her that I love her and will see her soon.

I can't tell you what it means to me that my baby has such good friends. You three honestly seem to care about her wellbeing. It was terribly hard on her when we lost her mother. I'm afraid that with all of the travel that is a requirement for my position in this new company that I've signed on with, I haven't had the opportunity to be there for her as often as I should have been. My mother, her Grams, filled that void in her life. Now I'm not sure how Bonnie's going to cope with that empty hole . Thank-you again for all of your help, Mr. Salvatore."

Damon was surprised by the queer emotions that stirred within him from the kind words of open acceptance and trust that lay beneath the elder man's confession. His reply was genuine,

"I look forward to meeting you in person Sir, I wish it could have been under different circumstances. Bonnie is an angel, she's easy to adore. Goodbye Mr. Bennett."

Damon noted the time on the grandfather clock as it chimed- 3:15 A.M. He had nearly four hours until sunrise, with say maybe another five hours until Mr. Bennett arrived. Elena and Stefan were asleep on the pullout sofa-bed in the den. That gave him plenty of time to put his seduce Bonnie plan into action. Summoning his pure stealthy vampire mojo he was in the bedroom and looming over Bonnie in about fifteen seconds. Eat your heart out Austin Powers TBC....

Juicy Lemons coming in the next chapter I promise. Let me know what you think about this one so far.


	5. Chapter 5

The Price Of Redemption Chapter 5

* * *

Damon silently shut the door and tripped the lock. He then stood at the foot of the frilly canopy bed watching Bonnie as she slept. She lay on her side, arms tucked up under her fluffy pillow, body buried beneath a multiple layer of rainbow hued cotton bedding topped by a snowy down filled comforter.

In the dim yellow glow of a plastic butterfly nightlight, her face looked as innocent as a child's. Her chestnut brown hair spread over her pillow in a halo of curls. Thick lashes fell as feathered crescents against rosy flushed cheeks, her plump berry lips were slightly opened as she softly breathed in and out.

Suddenly Bonnie whimpered and shifted restlessly in her sleep, kicking off the confining covering of sheets and blankets. Damon tensed for a second afraid that she was going to awaken too soon, but she just stretched out languidly like a cat and continued to snooze. Immediately the former visage of a young girl was chased away by the exposure of a full grown woman's alluring shape.

Damon's hungry gaze raked her from head to toe, settling first on a pair of lushly rounded breasts, then noting an impossibly narrow waist and petite curving hips. She was barely covered by a short, thin carnation pink baby doll nightie with a unicorn silkscreened on the front. It had to be one of her old articles of clothing, probably left here from a few summers ago.

Though this room was technically a guest bedroom, it was apparent by the interior design that the little witch had been the most frequent visitor to use it over the years. Damon smiled, earlier he hadn't paid much attention to the small telling details. His main concern in that moment had been Bonnie's health. Now it was as if he had just walked into a fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty perhaps. No, he mused running his tongue over a fang, more like Beauty and The Beast.

The walls were papered in a whimsical celestial pattern of tiny suns, moons and stars peeking out from behind airbrushed clouds. The effect was rendered in muted shades of blue, yellow, purple and white with gold and silver gilding at the edges. The honey pine trim and matching floor were all sanded to a satin sheen. Flokati shag rugs of powder blue were scattered about for added comfort. Custom stenciled drapery rods and maze micro-fiber pleated roman shades insulated the windows with a touch of style.

The central focus was the queen sized iron bed, a victorian reproduction with an ivory crackle finish and fancy framework. Sheer, gauzy lace curtained the canopy and was tied to each of the four posts with lavender ribbons. A set of distressed white washed furniture with brushed nickel handels complimented it. A cushioned cedar chest doubling as a window seat displayed Bonnie's collection of cute stuffed animals.

Other items graced the space in various nooks and crannies. A number of things were from her childhood, some newer articles were obviously more recent purchases. Her own creations of artwork and pottery from her classes, several flowering houseplants and scented candles were tucked away here and there. Cheerleading pom-poms from her junior high days, a Johnny Depp poster and a Barbie doll house were funny standouts.

Photos of her friends Elena, Caroline and Matt were placed on the dresser, along with an heirloom jewelry box and some books. Perfume bottles, nail polish, potions, lotions and a few porcelain figurines dotted the vanity while an I-pod charger, an alarm clock and an antique crystal ball were arranged on the nightstand. That last one was certainly a witchy icon if ever he saw one.

The closet held a sewing machine, boxes of school memorabilia a.k.a. snap shots, trophies and yearbooks, shoes, purses and more of her wardrobe. Again a bit of this and that. Stuff she still wore occasionally, mostly seasonal outfits or special event dresses. A few she had outgrown but hadn't yet parted with. He was sure that the dresser would contain the same.

It dawned on him that this room was physical evidence that her father had been right. Bonnie must have spent more time here, in this house, sharing her life with her grandmother than she ever had while dwelling nearly alone in her father's house. At least during her formative years anyway.

He wished it was possible to turn back the clock, to prevent the loss of her mother, and her grandmother. If only he had the power to change the little witch's life dan, (her wyrd or destiny.) What he wouldn't give to be able to alter the way the events of tonight had unfolded, to spare her this sorrow. But that was impossible, and he was no H.G. Wells. The only thing he could do was help her to move on with her life, or her eventual un-life as it were, ... with him.

* * *

Bonnie's eyes remained shut, but Damon detected rapid movement beneath her lids. She had entered R.E.M. sleep and was dreaming. That might work for him. He found it hilarious that this was one point about Vampire lore that the lame writers on True Blood had actually gotten right. While he didn't have the ability to manipulate time, he could sway a human's mind using glamor, well a normal one anyway. (Some clueless hack without vervain in their system or on their person.)

As a witch Bonnie had been immune to his draw, then again she had almost always been awake when he had tried to influence her. Entering a person's dreams was usually easier. The subconscious id's barriers between what is real, logical and acceptable and what is not are often very weak. Another element in his favor was the sedative that the E.M.T.S. had administered to her earlier. More than likely it would lower her inhibitions as well.

Damon knew that another one of True Blood's snazzy factoids of the undead warranted merit, the whole bounty of the blood bond. He smirked, that would make a good cross-over title for a vampire/pirate movie screen play. (Sexiest Man Of The Year my ass. He could easily play Johnny Depp's role and then pitch that insipid poster that Bonnie had tacked up on the wall.)

He had already consumed about a liter of Bonnie's delicious liquid life-force the day that Emily had possessed her. Now he intended to entice the little witch into drinking a pint of his. Not enough to change her, not yet, just enough to bind her to him.

He focused all of his energy on Bonnie and felt the tickling thread of her brainwaves brush against his. He discreetly nudged, wefting his way through the warp and the weave that was the tapestry of Bonnie's intellect. Freddie Kruger had nothing on him. Into the loom he slipped and as he braided the yarn of them together in her dream it unfolded....

She was sitting atop a huge, flat grey/green moss covered rock overlooking an enormous, windswept lake. At her side perched a wrapped bundle that contained a red Grimmore and a black Necronomicon Ex-mortis. The sky was a cloudless vivid expanse of sapphire. An orange sun was bright and warm on her skin while it heated the stone she rested upon. She was dressed in a medieval white robed tunic, a torque of silver at her collar and a crown of oak leaves entwined with wildflowers wreathed her hair.

She had gathered the skirt of the gown up to her hips and was dangling her lovely bare legs into the clear, cool water. Behind her, an acreage of peat bog and tall scraggily green grasses danced with the strong breeze, waving to and fro alongside a crumbling section of a destroyed castle. Only a lone tower trailed in ivy and wild rose bushes remained upright. Off in the distance a dark, vast overgrown forest threatened to choke out what was left of the open area in the glen. Emerald rolling hills gave way to rugged snow capped mountains.

Damon saw no other buildings or inhabitants. He was getting a sense of aching loneliness and a deep resigned sadness coming from Bonnie. She looked at him and sighing said,

" This is where they came from, where their magic was born. This is where it all started. And now they're gone forever. Grams is gone forever. I'm the last one, the sole Bennett witch left. Oh, Damon, what am I going to do? I'm not even sure if I can keep my gift alive inside of me, and if I somehow manage to, I don't know how to control it properly. I don't think I'm strong enough, I'm not sure if I can bear it! "

She began to weep, her tears flowing down her cheeks and falling in big wet droplets into the lake, the Loch of Sorrows.

" Let me try to help you Bonnie, I can take the pain away, trust me I know all about pain. Allow me to ease your burden, I can make you forget about it, if only for a short while. I can protect you and possibly assist you with developing and controlling your powers. But first I have to ask you, how recently have you taken any vervain?

I know what you are thinking, but I swear to you, I have no ulterior motives, other than begging you to forgive me for behaving like such an ass. I hope that we can be friends, and someday.. maybe even more than that."

In the realm of slumbering dreamers Damon knelt down upon the rock and pulled Bonnie into a tender comforting embrace. Song birds in the meadow sang in tune with his whisper of sweet nothings into her ear. She calmly confided to him that she hadn't used any vervain after the night of Emily's haunting. A yellow butterfly fluttered by as he rained soft, chaste kisses down her neck and along her jaw, stopping at the dip in her shoulder. He lingered at each pulse point before slowly nipping his way up again to claim her lips with his own.

His hands touched her, caressing first , then exploring the press of soft flesh against his firm muscle. Her fingers stroked his hair and dug into his back as their bodies molded into one. Two lovers basked in the afternoon sun's golden heated rays as their passion begun to burn hotter than an exploding supernova.

* * *

In the real world Damon had hurriedly stripped himself of his clothing. Chucking his boots and mis-matched socks into a corner he ripped off his black t-shirt and shucked out of his jeans. He had been flying commando as always. Now nude and thoroughly aroused by Bonnie's enthusiastic response to their dream world encounter, he excitedly bridged the gap between the little witch on the bed and himself.

Keeping their minds linked he lay down beside her and inhaled her intoxicating scent. This time Bonnie's silken skin smelled like hyacinth and magnolia blossoms from the soap that Elena had bathed her in. He wound a stray curl around his thumb relishing her hair's freshly shampooed aroma of fresia lilly. Leaning in closer he nuzzled her earlobe and flicked his tongue out to tickle her collarbone. She smiled sleepily, snuggling up to him as she started to wake. He reinforced the subliminal mental suggestion that this was only a pleasant dream experience. Damon encircled her in his arms and captured her mouth with a deep probing kiss.

"God!, She tastes so delectable, like melted brown sugar."

He heightened the intensity between them by sliding his left hand underneath her nightie and cupping her breast as he ground their hips together. He was already hard, and his erection throbbed with elicit pleasure pain against the clinging damp fabric of her pretty pink panties.

He simultaneously squeezed her bottom with his right hand as he continued to tease her nipple. Fondling the delicate aureole until it was a raised peak, Bonnie moaned as he switched his attention to her other breast. He repeated his actions utilizing both palms now until Bonnie was practically squirming under his talented ministrations. She nearly cried out as he removed his cool contact from her breasts,

" Oh! don't stop, Damon, please don't stop !"

He gave her a wicked grin as his fangs emerged and said,

" Oh, don't you worry my naughty little witch, I'm no where near finished with you yet. Raise your arms for me. "

Bonnie complied just long enough for him to tug her nightie up over her head, it floated to the floor to land in a discarded puff of pink. Then she clung to him and wiggled her ass begging him to get rid of her bikini undies, the last remaining scrap of fabric between them.

Damon paused in awe, shaking his head as he filed this image of her away in his memory for eternity. She was sprawled out before him, naked as the day that she was born, her hazel tiger eyes slyly sending him a smoky come hither invitation. His voice was thick with desire as he complimented her,

" Bonnie Bennett, girlfriend, you are one fine, fine, fine, sexy witch"

She giggled then gasped as Damon dove on top of her and seized a breast in his mouth.

" Thank-you, you're not so bad yourself, for a walking dead man. Oh!"

He relentlessly lathed and suckled each in turn, lightly grazing his fangs across them until Bonnie was shaking uncontrollably with an impending orgasm. She was breathless, her heart was racing in reaction to the hormones spiking in her system. Her face was flushed, her mocha coloring enhanced by the blood rushing through her veins. A fine sheen of sweat misted her limbs in glistening dewdrops.

This was the perfect aphrodisiac for Damon. He began kissing and licking his way down her torso, tantalizingly narrating what he planned to do to her...

" Bonnie, I want to taste you, all of you, every single square inch of your luscious body,"

He became an explorer, like Magellan, launching the armed armada of his ship. He lapped at her stomach, passing the sail of his raspy taste-buds down the uncharted territory of her left hipbone. Dragging his fangs solicitously along the pristine slope of her thigh he mumbled,

"Mmmm, you're addicting, I'm hopelessly hooked, "

Bonnie watched him transfixed by the sensations he was creating in her,

" Ohooo, yes...That feels nice,... ah, there yes, right there,"

And there he hovered, giving her a hickey to stamp an X on the map of her femoral artery before he traversed the expanse of her knee and calf.

" You're so soft,...my cara bella,..here,...there,...and everywhere,... each...little...spot...",

His lazy return voyage up her right side left Bonnie with her shores in flames, while she impatiently waited for her argonaut to storm the beach and plant his flag.

" Oh, Damon, your driving me crazy, ...I want you,..I need you,... inside of me...now please ! "

Damon didn't require a compass or a sextant to find his hidden treasure, he merely used his dexterous digits and flexible tongue to go spelunking where no man had ever gone before,... repeatedly.

" How does that feel ?.. Oh yeah!... There it is, that's your button !... Oh you are my cara bella...Christ ! You are so wet for me baby....you taste so damn sweet !...Come for me now!.. little witch !...

And when he sank his fangs into her groin where the X marked the spot, he drank from her fountain. Bonnie's world spun upon it's axis and exploded, she had an orgasm that rivaled the strength of a Tsunami. She screamed out his name in ecstasy...

" Damon!, Damon!, Oh...my..God!... I've never felt ..! anything like that..! I didn't know I could !"

She panted trying to catch her breath and met his eyes,... He was so incredibly handsome.... She wanted to give as good as she got... She longed to see him loose control..and climax in pleasure because of her...

That was excellent, leaving Damon feeling rather insatiable. He had glutted himself on her blood, and low and behold , he could tell what emotions were chasing through her being... Soon he would feed her his blood, and then he would be able to read her thoughts as well as her emotions..They would be bonded, linked forever,.... from this day forward...Wait?, Hadn't he heard that from somewhere else before...Wasn't that a line from an old fashioned marriage ceremony?...

Damon lost his train of thought as Bonnie wrapped her hand around his burgeoning cock and began to diligently stroke it. She was urging him on, wantonly guiding him towards her hot, moist core. His little witch was a quick study. He knew that without his calming "dreamy" influence she would have been too nervous and afraid to go through with this. She was still a virgin and this would be her first time to quote on quote- "go all of the way." He vowed to be gentle with her.

He settled himself between her legs, supporting most of his weight on his left arm while he held Bonnie's chin,

" Bonnie, look at me...cara bella, directly into my eyes... this isn't going to hurt, it will be special, profound and life altering. O.K. ? "

Bonnie's hazel eyes were wide and shining as he kissed her. He positioned the tip of his cock at her entrance and slowly pushed in, then pulled out again, stimulating her sensitive nub while spreading some of her creamy fluids over the length of his shaft. She was dripping wet. Next he rocked his hips forward, entering her deeper yet. All the while watching her intently for any signs of distress.

Her eyes slid shut and she tilted her head back and moaned happily as he pushed forward a few inches more. Jesus, she felt so good, almost too good. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to last, she was so hot ! Her sheath gripped him tightly. He paused waiting for the walls lining her channel to relax again before he broke through her maidenhead. Seconds later he plunged in with a forceful stroke, burrowing into his little witch up to the hilt.

Oh! Yes! Who needs heaven? He has her !, This is it !, This is the best!, This is so right !

Early on he set an easy, rhythmic pace for them, and together they tenderly shared their innermost selves. Hushed endearments mixed with groans. Back and forth he moved, and she met and matched his thrusts with open admiration. Their passion for one another built until they were hungry for more intensity.

Damon saw that this was the moment that he had been waiting for. He raised his wrist and bit it open, then he reached out and pressed the bleeding wound against Bonnie's lips.

" Drink from me my cara bella, I want you to. It will bring us closer and help you to cope with your loss ."

Bonnie latched on to her lover's wrist, holding it reverently between her two graceful hands as she swallowed mouthfuls of Damon's rich red essence. With each draw Damon could sense a rush of power flow from male to female and then cycle back again. He felt a sudden bizarre spiritual kinship to the Horned God Of The Forrest and Bonnie's own clan gifts had always been related to the Trinity Goddess. They were them!, A pair of Elementals reborn in the blood and fire of their union. Once Bonnie had drank enough to ensure that the bond would take, Damon instructed her to cease,

"Cara bella, that's enough, you should stop now, too much at once could endanger you."

He licked his own ragged cut until it closed. It would be completely healed in a matter of minutes. Damon lustily adjusted the angle of his hips as Bonnie intentionally wrapped her arms and legs more tightly around him, clinging hotly. She was his ! Mine !, Mine !, Mine ! He chanted as he bucked harder and faster.... pumping more deeply than he had before.

" Bonnie ! Oh baby hang on !, hang on!, we're almost there!"

" Damon!, I won't go without you!, I won't !"

It didn't take long for them to both be well on their way to reaching a final climax. Riding the crest of that wave, it swelled, lifting them skyward towards their pinnacle before the wake peaked, cascading them over the edge. They cried out in unison, arriving there in perfect sync.

( YES!!!! OH ! YES!!!!)

There was no need to worry about being too loud, for no one else in the house could have heard it. They had just used their own private telepathic connection for the very first time.

( Damon!, I think,.. I might be,.. I could be.. falling for you, By the Goddess Damon, that was amazing !, What the?.... I can hear you in my head !)

( It was more than just amazing little witch, it was magical ! I know I've fallen,..and now I've been raised up..by you my love ! The telepathy is a result of our blood exchange. We are bonded now, you are mine....and I am yours. Forever.) TBC......


	6. Chapter 6

**The Price Of Redemption Chap. 6 **

Damon was completely spent, his body slightly quaking. Still using their telepathic link he commented contentedly,

( Man I haven't been this relaxed in over one hundred and seventy years.)

He nuzzled Bonnie's neck, his fangs retracted for the time being. She made a sort of muffled mewing noise and he realized that he was probably about to crush her dainty figure underneath his heavier frame.

( Sorry love,) He tenderly kissed his little witch as he rolled them over so that now she lay on top of him. ( Is that better sweet?)

( Uhm,.. yeah baby,.. this is paradise.) She purred as she nestled in closer, resting her cheek over his dead and currently silent heart. He hugged her against him and tested their bond, smiling in contented satisfaction.

Like him, Bonnie was in a state of lethargic nirvana. Tranquilly they both lounged in the afterglow of their lovemaking. She was lightly combing her nimble fingers through the fine dusting of hair that covered Damon's chest.  
He began to caress her soft, smooth shoulders moving down to gently massage her back in slow lazy circles.

* * *

He must have dozed off when suddenly Bonnie lifted her head and sat up. Letting out a squeak of alarm she conjured a hasty half-hazard spell to magnify the gravitational field around the vampire.

" Meudachadh Iom -tharraing !,.. increase gravity !"

Bonnie fretted...[This should work, it's the opposite of floating feathers.] Using that and her lithe muscles she pinned him, executing a maneuver that could have won her the W.W.E. championship belt. It jostled him qui vive.

Peering straight into his startled azure eyes Bonnie candidly demanded out loud,

" This is **not** a dream is it ?"

Whoops!, Dawn must be only about an hour or so away. A drowsy Damon had let his subliminal persuasion over her slip. Care to guess what movie quote he could imagine as a warning cue ? An ominous line from Paul Atreides of Arrakis, [Dune].... Father, the sleeper has awakened !.....

Bonnie was waiting for him to answer her with his voice. [ Too bad he didn't have Paul's weirding way tone.] An odor of super-charged ozone particules hung in the air, a tell tale residual from the use of her magic.

Damon couldn't budge, though he could feel her conscious mind expand and buzz with renewed energy as it skimmed his own. He knew the instant that she became aware of their newborn communion via the blood bond. When she recalled how it had been formed her volatile emotions were all over the place.

She was waffling between distracting affection / anger, lust / embarrassment, grief / happiness, regret / amazement, distrust and fear. They all concerned him, but particularly her fear. Didn't she understand that he could no longer harm her ? Their connection made it impossible for him to.

Hell it would be like cutting off his own hand. Which by the way really smarts and it takes most vampires a minium of six months and twenty-four gallons of blood for an appendage to decently regenerate. If it's their head that gets decapitated,... ouch!.. talk about a bad hair day...Nada, Joe Dirt- You don't recover from that.

He couldn't lie to her either, even if he had wanted to. Not that he really did. So he replied to her question honestly, only to end the statement with another query of his own.

* * *

" No Bonnie love, this is no dream. Except for the first part, when we were in the past, sitting upon that rock by the Loch of Sorrows. But that's a real place in Scotland isn't it? "

She narrowed her eyes with misgiving as she struggled using one arm to pull more of the sheet out from under them to cover up her nudity [while still using her other limbs to keep him immobile.] Her cheeks were vivid when she retorted,

" Yes,..umph..at least I think so,..grrr... I'm not sure... Hey! Don't try to change the subject, You bastard ! I'm a witch! I'm supposed to be able to resist your fucking vampire shit! You've MacGyvered me or something!, How? Why!.."

" Why?, He shrugged, then leered. Simple, you fascinate me and I want you,.. all of you. And admit it, you desire me too. The how ?, Well that's an easy A plus, it's a formula as old as time itself. You had to have taken the state's mandatory sex education classes by now, correct ?

I'll give you a quick refresher course. Boy meets girl, they like each other, hormones rise, they do the horizontal bop and swap some bodily fluids...Well, we exchanged more than what your usual run of the mill couple does. Blood Bonnie. It's our own private version of a special sauce, without the jingle.

He sang it comically...*** Two all beef patties, hum- hum, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion on a sesame seed bun***

And who needs buns ?, you baby got back to the max. "

He waggled his eyebrows,..finally !, Her teensy weensy incantation was starting to wear off. He kept talking wondering when she would notice it.

" The rest of you is righteously bodacious as well. I swear, Cara Bella, your juice is ...mmm magnifico..the sweetest nectar, the only elixir that I will ever crave again. "

He mimicked a chef tapping his lips with closed fingertips, made a smooching sound then opened his hand to blow her a kiss.

* * *

Bonnie couldn't decide whether to be flattered or insulted, she instantly released her restraining hold on Damon and wound the excess bedding around her breast.

[ God damn him, she hadn't been prepared for this...this.. thing! Trippin uncool, uber kinky bond or whatever it was. She was fighting an urge to kiss his sexy mouth... No! It was dangerously parasitic, like the rest of him ! He had to be toying with her. Fu-barred spell aside, he was strong enough to have gotten loose anytime that he chose to.]

Bonnie fumed, " Are you done being a joker ?, because Heath Ledger already won the Oscar, and before you say it...Yes, it was a shame that he was dead by the time that they gave it to him."

Damon donned his best cat that ate the canary mug and quipped,

" Did it ever occur to you that he could have become another stellar representative of the American Un-Dead workers union? A vampire variation on the Teamsters, hence the post mortem award. Granted it's not as prestiges as the screen actors guild, less voters. But hey it's better than the alternative. Blank oblivion, dust to dust, yada yada, re-run city, end of story."

Bonnie grunted in irritated frustration, rubbing her temples.

"Ugh! You know what?, It doesn't matter. You aren't funny and I'm not laughing. Now get dressed, you're leaving. I'm tired and I have a pounding head ache. Are Elena and Stefan still here? "

Damon's trademark smirk disappeared to be replaced by a stalwart expression. She wasn't exaggerating, her pain was whipping at him like a lash.

[ Had he taken too much of her blood during their exchange? What if her body was somehow rejecting his viscid vampire fluids? Could her genes have something to do with it ?]

He picked up their conversation from the Ledger debate,

" Yes the dynamic duo are asleep in the den.

O.K. I won't say... why so serious,.. even though I am. Look, last night we each had our butts bunt kicked by the loss of someone that we loved. "

Bonnie was churlish, needing to vent lest she burst,

"And of course you had absolutely nothing to do with it ! Who exactly did you lose again? A vampiress who's already been gone for over a century. **Your** insane obsession with Katherine is the reason that we were all there in the first place!"

* * *

He sighed forlornly, what did he expect ? His track record preceded him,

" Don't worry, I've been duly rewarded for my misplaced loyalty. I just thought that we could both use a little R & R and some TLC before we have to deal with ah...everything... tomorrow. "

With that melancholy reminder Bonnie lowered her misty eyes, blinking she valiantly fought to speak,

" I'm dreading tomorrow,"

Her voice trembled as she was reminded of something that she had used for last semester's drama class, [what with all of the talk about deceased actors.]

" Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray -Lord Byron.

That's from one of Gram's favorite poems. She helped me to memorize a lot of his work . She was so patient with me, listening to me practice the pieces over and over again for hours until I nailed them word for word. Maybe I should have that one printed on her memorial service card. "

Damon absorbed this stoically, then made an inspired attempt of his own. Using the topic of poetry he temporarily distracted Bonnie's thoughts away from Sheila Bennett.

" Byron's popular, though I prefer Edwin Arlington Robinson,..."

His voice was soft and reverent as he recited the prose,

" For those that never know the light, The darkness is a sullen thing ; And they the Children of the Night, Seem lost in Fortune's winnowing.

But some are strong, And some are weak,- And there's the story. House and home are shut from countless hearts that seek, -World refuge that will never come..."

At Bonnie's astonished regard he grinned adding,

" The last three stanzas are the best,..

.It is the crimson, not the gray that charms the twilight of all time; It is the promise of the day, that makes the starry sky sublime;  
It is the faith within the fear that holds us to the life we curse;- so let us in ourselves revere. The Self which is the Universe ! Let us the Children of the Night, Put off the cloak that hides the scar !,

Let us be Children of the Light, And tell the ages what we are ! "

Bonnie was curiously impressed by Damon's use of a seldom seen cultivated layer to his personality. Mr. Complex chattered on.

"I suspect old Eddie knew about our kind, yours and mine. His earliest samples were written about the birth of our races as Gods and Goddesses. That was then, and this is now. Let's face it, we're supernaturals and in a modern world that creates a whole plethora of bizzarre problems, dating included.

We must fly under the radar so low even Mulder and Scully can't find us. Nope to today's society we would be classified as X-Files, along with things like UFO's, Elvis sightings, Santa Claus and the freaking Easter Bunny.

A witch and a vampire, we aren't even considered as real as your Scottish Loch or the legends of Caledonia, so our feelings and opinions don't count for anything. Except of course by some of the nut cases who have descended from the original Mystic Falls Founding Fathers, most of whom still live here. Like Mulder... they believe. One difference though, they don't want to play nice. **They** **want** **to** **destroy** **us**. "

Bonnie huffed defensively,

"Speak for yourself, **I** have friends and family who care about me and who value my ideas. And it doesn't matter what their last name is, they accept me as I am, gift included. Probably because **I'm not** **a** **shunned**, **demented**, **heartless** **sociopath**... **unlike** **you.** "

Coming from her that stung, more than what he thought a mere snipe ever could. Damon winced giving in, his voice hushed.

"Touche, point taken. But not everyone is as open minded as dear Elena, or as ditzy as poor Caroline. Please be very selective about who else you reveal your secret to, they may not be the enlightened suitor that I am. "

* * *

He puffed out his cheeks confessing -

" I gotta tell you Bonnie, I'm so sick and tired of this game, and of being alone. I'm weary of constantly having to watch everything that I say and do. I dislike being forced to glamour people for a meal... or to have a few hours of companionship."

Bonnie scoffed,

"What! You mean to have a few hours of bloodletting and unprotected sex with some poor girl who doesn't know any better. Whom you later may or may not murder ! "

Damon argued,

" No!, it's not like that !, Not with you ! It has never been only about food or a quick empty fuck or even your witchy powers !, Not anymore! Don't you see ? It's all gotten so lame !, My un-life has grown too plastic and fake ! Like your silly pal Caroline...

Christ, sometimes I think that's why I've lost it so often in the past and killed when I should have just fed. I was weak and sick-hearted, I enervated that Katherine was entombed beyond my reach. I would drink too much as I tried to stretch out those last few minutes. Not out of a necessity for more sustenance, or for the thrill of the flavor basted in their fear, but from the need to feel a connection to someone,.. anyone... before I had to stop and remove all memory of my true self from their brain. "

* * *

Bonnie gulped, as he fell silent while her thoughts churned . The dark, twisted and sexually manipulative side of him was the one that she was the most familiar with. She actually expected him to behave badly. It always scared the shit out of her, but she had more or less learned how to defend herself against it.

Now he was even more unpredictable than ever before. This new improved Damon with a tender, caring, vulnerable side was making Bonnie extremely uncomfortable, and Goddess guide her.. incredibly tempted. He was so sad.

Damon's piercing blue eyes pleaded....

" **You** aren't like Caroline or Elena, or anyone else either. **You** are unique. Yes, your gift is a big part of what makes you special. So use it! Search me with your third eye. **You** are intelligent and more than powerful enough to scry me for who and what I truly am, deep down inside.

Only you have the strength to help me to change for the better. Will you be a band- aid for me Cara Bella?, You know that I'm telling you the truth... Bonnie, I promise that I will never hurt you again, give me the chance to prove it to you.."

Looking up at her beautiful face, he centered himself, aligned his chakra points and fully empowered his side of the bond. He exposed his entire odious self to her. Braving the buffeting maelstrom of Damon's mind, Bonnie surfed his neural conduits until they amalgamated into one.

His memories became hers and vis-a verse. Schiz out!...She was ashamed, she had been wrong- wrong- wrong about him. His worst secret wasn't only an accumulation of all of the terrible things that he had done in his past, it was the way that he had come to regard himself.

She had always thought that he was a conceited, diabolical, manipulative, over- bearing asshole who only cared about his own whims. For decades she would have been right.

Now he absolutely hated what he had become, partying his way along a path of self destruction. Reaching the point of intentionally behaving recklessly, he entertained the notion that somehow, another would put an end to his loathsome existence.

She immediately felt the dull ache that came from the untimely death of his mother, followed by the cold, unjustified rejection by his father. Then the lingering pain and regret due to the long estrangement from his brother Stefan. Lastly the solitary black hole that had been Damon's undead life as a vampire while he struggled to find a way to free his maker- his first love Katherine. That quest had been the only thing keeping him forging onward.

Earlier tonight Bonnie had witnessed Damon's latest devastation firsthand when he, Stefan and Elena exited the tomb after discovering that Katherine was not in it. To start with the little witch had been terrified and pissed off at Anna and Damon, then she focused mainly on working with her Grams to lift the tomb's seal. Finally she turned to promptly leave with her ailing grandmother when Damon dashed out in front of her car, blocking her path.

He had forced the driver's side door open long enough to issue her a warning that all was not over between them. As soon as he had slammed the car door shut, she had sped off, not stopping for an instant to worry about where the missing vampire bitch actually was.

Now she knew the whole story. Damon's pain and disillusion upon finding out that Katherine had not only deceived him, but that she had never loved him in the first place had left the vampire hopeless and numb. Katherine had been free all along and she had abandoned both brothers, along with the other twenty-seven vampires the night that the church was torched.

Tears again clouded Bonnie's vision, her Grams had died for nothing ! Damn Katherine to hell in a handbasket !!!

* * *

In her turmoil Bonnie's unstable gift detonated like a small thermal nuclear device, sending projectiles flying about as invisible waves of heated air radiated around the room. Every candle that remained upright flared to life. Singed and burning objects crashed to the floor while the sheer curtains draping the canopy bed literally disintegrated .

Damon cringed in abject agony, the back sides of his arms, hands, legs and shoulders had been blistered as he had reeled to flip them over. Lightening fast, he had succeeded in shielding Bonnie with his body and a blanket. Physically she was fine, but mentally she was shaken to the core.

Damon cried out as the bond was flooded with their combined despair. He begged his little witch to forgive him for his past duplicity,...

( Oh God, Cara Bella...do you hate me this much? I'm sorry,.. sob.. I'm so sorry...sniff... forgive me, Oh Christ ...What can I do Love? I'll do anything that you want, just don't ask me to leave...sob... I need you,.. I really need you. I can't stand to see you cry baby,...please don't cry..)

He wept with her, holding her tightly, pitifully entreating any deity that would listen to grant him mercy. He would do whatever was necessary for atonement, if only she would stay with him. He had been ready to meet his final death, even if she were the one to deliver the killing blow.

That was until he had tasted her, until he had learned that only the light of true love could ever really quench his dark thirst. She was his salvation, his only hope.

Bonnie's tears diminished as she listened to Damon's pleas and she peeked into his heart through their bond. The organ itself may technically be atrophic, but his capacity to give and receive love was immeasurable. He was starving for affection. She rasped in whispered wonder,

" Damon, look at me. I have to, no I **want** to apologize to you too. I never meant for you to get blasted by the backdraft from my gift. I tried to contain it, but I couldn't. I was too upset. I'm sorry. I know that you didn't hide any ill will towards my Grams. What happened to her was tragic, and not entirely your fault. Let me see your burns. Oh!, Leannan [lover] This looks severe, let me go and get Stefan...?"

Damon swallowed his voice low,

"No, it's allright baby. Let Elena and Stefan sleep. I'm a vampire remember, I'll be fine in a few minutes."

He chuckled blearily, " I must say that I'm relieved to know that you didn't intentionally toast my tush. Come here Love, lie next to me."

She could feel his body slowly healing itself, sense the incapacitating pain receding. His desire and passion for her was burning ever brighter,...kelvins greater than any combustion that she could create. His love was an eternal flame in the inky darkness.

* * *

She saw herself as he perceived her. Her eyes were heavy lidded liquid pools of hazel flecked with green topaz, her lips were pouty, flushed and swollen from his kisses. Her skin shimmered like mocha silk, her hair fell in a tangled corona of sable and chocolate curls along her collar bone and between her ample, ripe breasts.

She didn't recognize this woman, surely she couldn't be this provokative enchantress whose only garment was a twisted sheet and a shy fuck me again Mona Lisa smile?

Damon used their link,

( Oh it's you all right Cara Bella, only you have the power to do this to me,)

He grabbed her enticingly curved derriere, untangled the sheet and wedged her against him. Erotically grinding his growing erection between her coffee and cream thighs for emphasis. He groaned in pleasure/pain from the cool flesh to hot skin contact.

Bonnie decided that turn about was fair play. All in the name of love and war, it fit them to a tee. She would show him how he appeared to her.

Projecting her perspective back to him, she inhaled his wild masculine scent, a mixture of patchouli and sandalwood aftershave combined with his own unique spicy musk. Her fingers itched to thread through his glossy raven locks, which she did. She tickled his earlobes as she held his head immobil so that she could tilt her mouth up to his and kiss him hard.

Using her tongue she urged his lips apart deepening the kiss as she teased his gums until his fangs emerged. She swirled the tip of her tongue over the sharp points nicking the tender tissue just enough to give her vampire a taste of his bonded's bewitching blood.

He hissed in hungry excitement. Pulling back a tad, Bonnie watched as his incisors lengthened further, gleaming fiercely white against his rudy lips. Damon's eyes darkened from an icy blue cobalt to a deep stormy navy ringed in red as he continued to transform.

His face glowed transparently pale as vermillion and charcoal veins plumped up then spidered out to shadow in ridges around his eye sockets and up his forehead. Thinner capillaries snaked down to trace the laugh lines that formed his dimples. He managed to look other worldly scary and superhumanly sexy both at the same time.

His slightly lopsided,wicked grin faltered under her scrutiny. He seemed harrowed by her feedback, with trepidation he spoke through their link..

(A part of you is still afraid, and who could blame you... I'm a monster aren't I? )

That was when Bonnie realized how important her answer to that question was to him. She used their link as well.

(No !, you're no longer a monster to me, not on the outside,)

She gently kissed his deamhan [demon] face lovingly brushing her lips across each altered imperfection,

( And not on the inside either, not here...)

She placed her hand on his ivory chest, over the spot where his motionless heart rested in stasis. The contrast of their skin tones heightened her arousal. She rained more butterfly kisses down his neck until she reached where her palm pressed.

( Make it beat for me, I know you can. I've heard it, I've felt it. )

Damon willed his body to follow her bidding and within seconds she felt a strong, steady thump- thump, thump- thump beneath her palm.

She couldn't help it, she giggled in delight...due to their connection the sound reverberated through her whole body like a pounding base drum. It tickled her tummy, vibrating all the way to her hootchie,...

THUMP, THUMP- THUMP, THUMP...The volume increased as Damon's libido flared...Bonnie's giggle turned into a naughty laugh,

( Oh my! Now who's the sleeper that has awakened! If we walk without rhythm, we won't attract the worm. )

Damon chuckled wickedly,

(Oh little witch, you are so made for me. What other woman on the planet could banter about lines from Dune as dirty pillow talk ? I'll gladly play along,)

( He who controls the Spice, controls the universe!) He started lightly grazing a fang across her dusky nipples.

( Oooh, yes. Tell me of your home world. ) Bonnie ran her hand down his back, copping a squeeze of his fabulously cute butt.

(On Caladan, we ruled with sea and air power. Here on Arrakis, we need desert power.) Damon lathed both of her breasts until they were tingling twin peaks. Then he licked lower and lower on her stomach, lingering at the moist V between her hips. After a few minutes of delicious pleasure, Bonnie gushed in an intensely satisfying orgasm.

(Do we have wormsign?) She said breathlessly, undulating as she reached below her knees to stroke Damon's cock firmly.

( We have wormsign the likes of which even God has never seen!) This came out of his throat as a rough growl.)

( The spice must flow!) Bonnie hinted for him to hurry up and delve into her aching, empty core.

( Oh no- no baby...He chastised. The slow blade penetrates the shield. ) He slowly separated her slick folds, dipping in and out all the while tweaking her clit in a tantalizing pattern.

(Oooh! You have no need of your weapons with me.) Bonnie squirmed hotly, pumping his member as she suckled the pseudo pulse beating on Damon's neck. She nipped it with her teeth, raising the heat between them a notch higher. The vampire practically roared!

( I'm dead to everyone unless I become what I may be!), He poised his throbbing rod at her opening and drove in deep. This was their bliss, ecstasy beyond any comparison!

( I am the whirlwind !!!), They both sang out the last of Paul's quips as their frolicking foreplay gave way to unbridled carnal lust.

It was almost overwhelming, the sensation of their bodies touching while their minds were totally merged. They moved as one giving and taking for each other's benefit. Each kiss and every thrust felt both as the giver and the receiver.

( Oh! Bonnie, baby you feel so good! I never dared to dream that I could ever have this,..with anyone....and now with you....Oh Little Witch, I love you with everything that I am and ever will be.)

( Damon,... I.. I...Oh you were right !...We must be destined to be together, otherwise I wouldn't feel so complete whenever I'm in your arms. I love you too, Vampire.)

* * *

The sky outside was a brightening rosy peach, dawn had arrived. Morning doves cooed lowly to each other as they flittered around the concrete birdbath. It sat under the budding maple tree that anchored the front yard of Sheila Bennet's bungalow.

Spring had sprung up seemingly overnight. Day lilly's and tulip bulbs were poking their pastel heads up through the dewey green grass. Squirrels were scampering here and there, fighting with the robins over a few of the fresh shoots of rhubarb growing in the herb garden.

It was a peaceful, serene scene that could have been painted by Thomas Kinkade himself. No one on the block was awake yet. A golden beam of sunlight filtered through the window of the bedroom where the two new lovers slept, [one in the deeper fathomless slumber of the dead.]

A breeze stirred the air as a misty muted shape coalesced in front of the unobstructed window. The ghost of Sheila Bennett stood watching the unsuspecting couple, she shook her head. Should she send them a heads -up dream?

" Tsk, Tsk...Oh, Bonnie child, what have you done? Damon, you better take good care of my grand-baby, the Goddess is a strict taskmaster. Oh yes, **you** **will** **reap** **what** **you** **sow**. I hope you both figure out what you've set into motion with this union of yours. They're not going to like it, not one bit. Especially her father. Yep, he'll be the worst one of the bunch. I guess that means I'll have to stick around here a while longer...."

" And here he comes, right on time for once." Her shape shimmered and she disappeared.

The silver Impala pulled into the driveway and jerked to a stop. He had nearly rear-ended the very expensive looking Jaguar AJ-V8 already parked there. It was custom painted in a dark blood red hue. The plates were vanity ones that read DMNSV1. ( DEMONS what ? VAMPIRE 1?, VEHICLE 1?, no it had to stand for the owner's initials. What was that kid's name again ?, Oh right Damon Salvatore.)

Mr. Bennett felt a twinge of territorial irritation percolate under his skin. That was some flashy car, it just screamed hey everyone look at me, I'm a ... all of these adjectives apply- popular, dangerously handsome, spoiled, rich kid. Everything that he as a Bennett, a working class stiff's son had never been.

Some inborn dormant instinct told him that he wasn't going to like this guy anymore than he did that car. Mr. Bennet got them all, especially the dangerous part correct.

* * *

He used his copy of the keys to gain access to his mother's house, planning to head to the john first and the kitchen second. But as he walked past the den he saw Bonnie's best friend Elena guiltily scrambling out from under the quilt on the sofa bed. At least she was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

Her boyfriend the younger Salvador brother was trying to look innocent as he sat in a recliner across the room. He was properly attired too. The two teens shared a quiet, guarded glance then Elena tearfully walked over to hug Mr. Bennett,

" I'm so sorry about Grams, Mr. Bennett, "

" Thanks honey, I'm glad that you were here for Bonnie. Where is she? Is she still sleeping ?"

Elena's eyes darted back to her boyfriend's nervously,

" I think so, I'll go check on her, Stefan why don't you introduce yourself to Bonnie's father. "

She went to walk away while the boy Stefan rose and held out his hand to Mr. Bennett saying,

" Hello Sir, I'm Stefan Salvatore and I'd like to offer you my condolences on your loss. Sheila was a very special person and we'll all miss her."

" Thank-you son, I appreciate that. Now if you don't mind, I think I'd like to go check on Bonnie myself. "

Before Stefan could stop him [without using his vampire speed] Mr. Bennett had hurried to the bedroom that Bonnie usually used while staying with her grandmother. His gut was telling him that something other than the loss of his elderly mother was upsetting Elena, and that worrisome something had to do with his daughter.

The sight that met his eyes when he neared the bedroom door stunned him. Elena was trying to rouse a very drowsy, and very naked Bonnie. Beside her lay an equally nude young man. He looked deathly pale, [even for a caucasian boy] Was he sick? Probably on drugs.

Elena slapped him soundly and yelled his name while she helped Bonnie into a robe.

"Damon!, get up !, Mr. Bennett is here !"

The young man immediately shot up and literally flew across the room landing in a weird defensive crouch in the corner, fangs bared?

FANGS!!!! Jesus H Christ !!! The kid was a god damned vampire !!! A naked vampire !!! One that had been sleeping, [or worse] with my only daughter !!!

Several things happened all at once as Mr. Bennett angrily looked on. Stefan ran into the room and rushed his brother, shoving him hard and holding him at bay. Was he a vampire as well? Elena was talking rapidly and was trying to ask Bonnie a few pertinent questions.

Bonnie was shaken and weeping as she tried to tell Elena and her father everything that had happened, all the while fighting to get physically closer to Damon. He had by this time pulled on some black jeans and was struggling with his brother to get loose so that he could comfort Bonnie.

The noise and tension in the room was escalating to a fever pitch when suddenly a blinding white light flashed and there stood the hazy annoyed ghost of Sheila Bennett. While her form appeared vaporous and insubstantial, her voice rang out with commanding authority,

" This is still my house ! And I want you all to just shut up and let me think!"

You could have heard a pin drop.....


	7. Chapter 7

I'm sorry that it's taken me this long to up-date. Real life kept interrupting my muse time. I've taken some literary liberties with the characters of Bonnie's parents. I've read the books and the TV show doesn't really follow them exactly. I tried to find some cannon for the folks on the show and failed miserably. So, I gave her mom the name of Mary after her sister's character in the books, her father I gave the name of Joe, you will see why..It's pretty important to my plot in this chapter, this is a pivotal one for the whole story. If anyone knows their real names let me know..My musical inspirations are many and varied-Poets Of The Fall, Phoenix Effect, 30 Seconds to Mars,Powerman 5000, Five Finger Death Punch, Apocalyptica, With In Temptation, Ra,Lacuna Coil, and a newly discovered favorite Shaman's Harvest. Here you go, I hope you like it, please review if you do, thanks.

The Price Of Redemption Chapter 7

At first the phantom floated around the room as if she were pacing back and forth, then she stopped to hover in the middle of the space, directly in front of Bonnie . No one else dared to move a muscle, not even the vampires. Tearfully the little witch asked,

" Grams? Is that really you?"

Sheila's perturbed face softened as she solidified enough to gently reach out and pat Bonnie's cheek,

" Oh, honey child, yes it's really me."

She opened her arms in invitation and Bonnie courageously stepped closer. Immediately the little witch was enveloped by the cloying sweet scent of roses and jasmine. A comforting feeling of warmth and unconditional love washed over her. Bonnie sobbed,

" Grams!, I love you so much !, I thought you were truly gone! You did hear me, didn't you? The E.M.T.S said that you couldn't. You must know, you have to. I'm so sorry that I messed up the spell because I was too weak and inexperienced. I failed you, what happened before...it was all my fault!"

"No! Baby !, No you didn't fail me. Yes, I died...but it wasn't your fault. "

Turning the specter addressed Damon and Stefan, who were positioned near the dresser, both squirmed uneasily. They had resumed their "normal human" guise, fangs retracted, no protruding veins or black eyes. Sheila's lined lips pursed and broke into a tight bland smile,

" It wasn't anyone's fault, except perhaps my own. I had a few premonitions that my time was growing short. I chose to ignore the warning signs."

Looking towards the bathroom door at her son knowingly she wirily smirked,

" Given **who** and **what** we are that was rather irresponsible of me wasn't it?"

Waggling her finger she groused,

" That was a rhetorical question. No matter **who** it was that had been appointed to deliver the message, or sent to escort me back to the Akasha. { The all-pervading spirit ether.} Just chalk it up to the stubborn streak that runs in our family and call it a day. I wasn't about to leave our Bonnie girl alone with the monumental task of cleaning up after Emily's mess."

Sheila's form wavered as she sighed wearily,

" But that's neither here nor there now. We still have a dirty job to finish. I fear that by tampering with the tomb's spell, the seal on the door has destabilized and completely evaporated. The passageway is unobstructed, anyone can come and go as they please....including the vampires entrenched inside."

Elena vigilantly perched upon the nightstand had been silent up until then,

" You and Bonnie were pretty wiped when we left last night, I'm not sure if you realize exactly what we found down there. Twenty-six of the vampires on the list were basically mummified and immobile, that is until Anna reunited with her mother Rose. That's when Jeremy's quote on quote "cute little stalker chick" decided it would be fun to hold my arm against her mommy's mouth so that she could feed from my wrist. Thanks to Stefan, Rose didn't have the time to fully drain me.

So wouldn't someone have to intentionally revive the others in the same way, using doses of fresh blood ? Couldn't you and Bonnie just duplicate Emily's spell book recipe and restore the seal before that happens? "

Sheila's dry cackling laugh echoed eerily, " Ha !, ha!, ha!...Elena, sugar you make it sound like all we need to do is mix up a batch of fudge brownies in the kitchen, if only it were that easy. You have no idea what you are asking for do you? Remember your comment about my use of plain old everyday bottled water in our ritual? Well this is why it didn't have to be blessed or any other such nonsense. As witches Bonnie and I can always call upon the four powers of the elements, Air, Earth, Fire, and Water, blending them whenever we need to.

However, we each have a special innate affinity for channeling our own specific one. Emily's element was water, making her one of the most powerful witches ever born in our line. Like air, water touches all, it's necessary for every living thing, it never truly disappears, it only changes form. From the airy clouds it falls, drenching the soil,- then it seeps through the ground to reach the rivers, flowing out into the oceans,- where it's heated by the sun and swept up by the wind,- only to be tossed back into the sky again. A continually renewing cycle. It can also flood cities and drown you.

I used to gather strength from my element, the Earth. The land records time itself buried in the sediments as Gaia {our mother} is surrounded by air and washed by the rain. I could sense the people around me, along with the animals and the plants. Carefully tapping from their reserves, I was able to alter the nature of loam and stone...but only while I lived. Now my abilities are limited.

Bonnie, your element is fire, the antipathy of water. Another very powerful force, you can harvest energy from the air and the sun and feed off of the heat from a burning flame. Destruction may be welded at your fingertips, the aftermath nurturing new life that grows all the more richer from the fertilizing ash. Never the less, water can extinguish fire and without oxygen the flame burns itself out .

Emily's spell was never meant to be reversed. It was booby-trapped somehow. She may have made a pact with you Damon, but we know from her actions with Bonnie and the crystal that she never really intended to honor it. She always had her own secret agenda for everything that she did, and who knows what that was. Some of her encryptions in the Grimmore are so abstract that I couldn't decode them. There's a master codex key missing and I've no idea where she hid it. Duplicating her exact spell is impossible.

Besides that, the triple-fold feedback loop is what sapped my life-force and compromised our control over the seal. Bonnie and I used the best combination of our gifts and the elements available to us, and still we weren't strong enough to bend the rules without paying the ultimate price. I don't advise tempting fate a second time, I won't put Bonnie in danger again."

Damon crossed his arms across his bare chest and darkly said,

" And it harm none. I completely agree with you, No one touches a hair on Bonnie's head, except me of course. Right Cara bella? "

Sheila peered at Damon skeptically as he waltzed over to Bonnie's side and possessively pulled her into a seemingly casual hug. {Thus subtly steering the little witch away from the ghost's embrace.} Bonnie shyly smiled at him murmuring,

"Yeah, morning Baby,"

as she leaned towards his tender kiss upon her temple. Sheila narrowed her eyes,

" **You** know about the law ?"

Damon straightened his posture again, nudging Bonnie behind him as he captured her tiny hand in his before quipping,

"**Yes**, **I** **do**. That's why I'm standing here raptly listening to your whole witchy edition of the rock, paper, scissors game instead of getting some breakfast. Anyone else hungry? I for one sure could use a fresh cup of Joe. No, not literally. I mean Java...er..coffee. Or is that Java-Joe's ? Hmmm?"

Bonnie elbowed the vampire in the ribs at her father's stricken expression as he emerged from his sanctuary in the bathroom with a large wooden handled loofa brush in his left hand. He had snapped it in two, one end was the harmless sponge, while the other was rather pointy... creating a comic but credible make-shift stake. Caught red-handed he slowly sat the sharp exfoliator down on the top of the chest and retreated back towards the bathroom door.

Damon grunted in faux innocence, " Ouch ! What? Oh I get it, J. B. His name is Joe Bennett. Oops sorry my bad. O.K. Breakfast can wait. "

Stefan rolled his eyes, Damon synonymous with irreverence. He cleared his throat,

"Sheila, I understand that there must be more to this story, something very important that you want to tell us. Otherwise you wouldn't be here...as you are. If we can't use magic to keep the vampires trapped inside of the tomb, what would you suggest?"

* * *

The apparition glided effortlessly from one piece of scorched furniture to the next, for the first time noticing that the room had sustained some damage from the night before. Everyone else followed Sheila's visual inspection, {excluding Damon who just acted bored.} Bonnie darted her eyes to her Dad worriedly, then she nervously fidgeting with the belt on her robe while waiting for her Grams to say something.

Sheila fingered the burn holes in the blankets and pillows on the bed. Flicking her gaze from the melted curtain remnants that hung in stiff uneven patches along the welded metal of the canopy frame to the charred items dotting the floor. She raised an eyebrow,

" I see that the two of you did a bit of remodeling in here. Was it to better suit your newly acquired **tastes ? **I hate to tell you this, it may have been **hot**...{insert fake valley girl accent} shabby chic is now....**not** !, it' so 1985. You should check out Pantone's website, their spring color forecast says a** make-over** could be just the thing to give **a pair **a happy ending."

Sheila had picked up Damon's well worn black leather jacket from the floor and held it out as an example of the wicked vampire's style before placing it on the cedar chest next to the wilted stuffed toys. {Her sour sniff heavy with a hint that in her opinion more than his fashion sense was going to have to be modified for her to like him, and that she would be more than pleased to help Bonnie tame him, the undead man's sexual prowess not withstanding.}

Bonnie started battling a fit of giggles in shocked relief that for the moment her Grams seemed to be willing to overlook her and Damon's tryst, not to mention the ruin of a few rather expensive presents. The case of giggles was contagious to Elena who joined in, soon Sheila's caustic chuckle mingled with theirs. The three women were laughing giddily sharing their feminine inside joke. { Mostly at the expense of Damon's scowl and the other guy's confused expressions...Pantone?}

Sheila's weird chortles subsided, she fanned herself with her hands as if she needed to cool down.

"Oh my...girl's that was pleasant, there's nothing like a good hard laugh. Remember that, hang on to those positive emotions for as long as you can. Your friends, your family, true love...they're the reasons why we must take on this fight. We're going to need every advantage that we can get..."

* * *

Abruptly the ghost rounded on Damon, roughly yanking him from Bonnie's hand clasp. Sheila kept punching and shoving him forcefully maneuvering the vampire towards the bathroom door...The same one that her son was leaning against, the same one that hung a mere three feet from the chest... and the stake!

Damon was pissed !!! What the hell ???

" Bonnie !, you better tell Grandma to chill or she's gonna get ran over and it won't be by a God damn reindeer ! "

Bonnie yelped, skittering after them. She could sense Damon's anger and frustration, he didn't want to be forced into doing something that would alienate him from Bonnie's affection. A difficult set of emotions that were rare for him leached out as well ...uncertainty and fear !

" Grams !!!, Stop it!!! Please !!! Don't hurt him !!! "

Damon's mind was reeling. Holy hell !, Where was Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis when you needed them ? What I wouldn't give for one of their Ghostbuster proton pacs, an ectoplasmic trap and a thirty ft. tall Stay Puft Marshmallow Man ! Every time Sheila the poltergeist bitch touched him he received an electric shock tantamount to sticking his finger in a 220 volt outlet.

The pain racked his bones setting his teeth on edge...he transformed violently, his fangs erupting in a burst of self defense. His skin tingled and itched, every hair on his head and body stood on end as his spasming muscles grew clumsy and numb. On top of that, when he tried to push or hit back... his cuffed fist met nothing. He had no effect what so ever on her astral projection. It was like shadow boxing a dancing mass of dust motes.

Stefan and Elena hopped up and attempted to reason with the ghost. Stefan's tone was strident ,

" Sheila !, Wait!... you don't want to do this ! I beg of you!, I know you believe that he deserves this, but have mercy... he's my brother !"

Elena whimpered, "Grams !, this isn't like you !, blind justice for vengeance's sake is wrong ! Look what you're doing to Bonnie ! "

The little witch was flaying on her stomach, wailing in heartache and pain. She and Damon were still linked and she was sharing every jolt that he received. The ghost of Sheila Bennett temporarily paused in her torture of Damon, swinging her head from him to Bonnie and then back again she shrieked,

" What precisely did you do to my grand daughter Vampire ? She absorbes your punishment ! Her cardinal signature is different! How did you convince her to betray her own kind ? Tell me now!!!"

Bonnie cried despondently, divided between offense and supplication.

" Grams !!! [sob] No !!!, He didn't compel me, not really ! [sob] I wanted to be with him ! We're joined, it must be our blood bond. Can't you see ? It's polished my rune, making it shine !...Grams, I love him !!!, I didn't betray anyone !!!"

Sheila switched her attention to her son and baited him,

" Did you hear that ? He has defiled her with his cursed animus! She is no longer pure. The Anunnaki will not be easily placated. What are you going to do about it ? "

* * *

Joe Bennett appeared about as undone as any man could be. He detested all of this archean New World Order mumbo-jumbo bullshit that had been a constant thorn in his side since childhood. His parents had raised him fully immersed in the doctrine of a realm that existed beyond the plateau of the everyday.

Oh he knew they were right, he had seen too many uncanny events unfold. Indeed he had met many of the three kinds of *sups*{ as he liked to call them, the superstitious, the supernatural, and the superhuman.} Those curious inhabitants hidden in plain sight unmasked before he had even learned how to use their home's big boy potty.

He had shared the "take your kid to work nights" with his Daddy and discovered that there were some secrets so dangerous that you could never reveal them to anyone not sanctioned by their small circle of contacts. This was drilled into his young mind as he practiced riding his bicycle without the training wheels.

Some would say that he had a remarkable education. Each milestone of his public school / community college years marking his journey to manhood had been penciled in right alongside the indelible ink stains of ancient tattoos, magic lore, alien scrolls, dusty tombs and the never ending battle between good and evil.

He had walked the line,... playing sports, making friends, going fishing even taking dates to the movies by day...Then at night he practiced with and mastered the art of the assassin, using his large intimidating physique, ancient weapons and futuristic artificial intelligence systems to win Pop's proud approval.

He had been groomed to take over his father's position when he retired. It was supposed to be easy for him, it was his destiny, it was in his genes.... After-all the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree,.. grafted from the one in the garden of Eden. Ha, ha, ha, what a joke!

The thing was, his father didn't make it to retirement. Nope he had died while on duty one week after Joe had turned twenty-one...how ironic was that? The Grim Reaper himself kicking the bucket while escorting a damned soul to his just reward in hell.

Yeah, after all of the years of his own intense training and dedicated work ethic for the netherworld, Mr. Joseph Black-Bennett senior had succumbed to one of the most ordinary ailments know to his kind... He had been felled by a massive heart attack.

Sheila had blamed it partly on his profession, and partly on herself. Citing the stress of maintaining an inter-racial relationship in a primitive judge-mental society.

Joe had blamed his father's demise more on his mother's repertoire of southern fried / cajun creole soul-food recipes served with iced sweet tea and the average American diet filled with convenient frozen entres, fast food joints and free flowing alcohol. His father's dreaded foes - high cholesterol and a fetish for Crispy Cream doughnuts.

Fire Demons really should stick with whole grains and fresh fruit mixed with steamed vegetables for healthy side dishes to their staple of raw red meat...Or salads, greens are good. All that processed white flour and refined sugar are bad.

Given a leave of absence from the antipodes Sheila and her son had dropped the first hyphen Black from their last name and moved back to one of the secluded hamlets favored by their ancestors....Mystic Falls.

All Joe had wanted then was a nice normal life. The Sears Roebuck package complete with a satisfying job, a modest house with a garage surrounded by a white picket fence, a loyal dog in the backyard, a beautiful loving wife and an adorable passel of kids. He had come so close when he had met Mary, his one and only love-Bonnie's mother. He had seen his chance, been given a glimpse of heaven. In the beginning it was just the two of them and their passion for one another. Then Bonnie was born and their life together had gotten even better. They were a family now.

He had felt so blessed, just the three of them living in their little pink house. His mother Sheila had been ecstatic for them. Christ, they'd have made the perfect family portrait for a John Mellencamp album cover. "Grandma" had helped them find the place only a few blocks down from her own bungalow. Even going so far as to co-sign on the loan and volunteer to be an on call baby-sitter whenever they had needed one.

As it turned out Sheila had done more than just baby-sit Bonnie, she had stepped in and practically raised her single-handedly after Mary's death. {She understood all too well what it meant to lose your kindred spirit.} Without his mother's love and support he would never have survived the whole ordeal of his young wife's long lingering illness. Cancer had stolen his dream, and jaded his wounded heart. He vowed to never re-marry.

Bonnie and his mother were the only two beings left in this galaxy that remotely mattered to him anymore. That was why he had left his old job as a quality control inspector at the foundry and went back to work for his father's people. Yeah, sometimes you just did what you had to do in order to make ends meet. Other times you convinced yourself that it was O.K. because you made a difference. Coldly,... logically,... without debate or regret,.. you ensured that the scales were kept in balance. You lied to yourself, and to your daughter.

Under the guise of an industrial energy efficiency tech, he traveled from city to city collecting his quota of lost souls. He was in charge of the entire eastern seaboard area. He exercised, ate right and only allowed himself two drinks{a bud and a blood} at dinner and only the occasional sulfur cigar. {Those he had to special order from a heretic in a smoking cave on the sixth layer.} Sheila's demanding voice dragged him from his reverie,

" Son! Are you listening to me? I asked you a question! What are you going to do ? The Anunnaki are on their way here, with the twelfth planet's elliptical orbit they are due to arrive at sunrise Dec. 21st, 2012. They will not expect their Caledonian Oracle to be bound to a son of Lilith. The Illuminati are watching and have sworn to stop at nothing to prevent the control of the established governmental infrastructure from falling into the hands of the Anunnaki aliens or their descendants here on Terra. You know what must be done !"

Joe Bennett cursed loudly….

" AUGH ! GOD DAMIT !! YES, MOTHER I KNOW !!!"

* * *

Faster than humanly possible Bonnie's father lunged out from the threshold of the bathroom door towards the chest and Sheila where she was wrestling with Damon to pin him down.

Stefan was a blurred shadow moving even quicker to intervene. Allowing his own inner beast to surface he changed, snatching up the stake and gripping it in his right hand like a knife before Joe could reach it. The tall, lean vampire then leapt to land on the balls of his feet like a great jungle cat, hissing a fanged warning while blocking Joe's path to Damon.

" YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME IF YOU WANT TO HARM MY BROTHER !"

Joe abruptly stopped and calmly raised both of his hands up, flat open palms facing Stefan so that the vampire could see that he was unarmed.

" I wasn't planning to use the stake unless I had to. There's no reason why this has to escalate any further. Bonnie, sweetheart..I don't want to hurt anyone, but I have to follow my orders. Death was summoned and now a soul has to either return with me to be judged, or it has to be cleansed and allowed to continue on it's journey of enlightenment. "

Bonnie sighed sadly,...Could these last thirty- two hours get any worse? Her Grams had died and now her ghost wanted to get revenge on the vampire whom she said **she** **did** **not** **blame** **for** **it.** The same vampire that Bonnie had let seduce her and who she'd fallen head over heels in love with. Now Bonnie's Dad was flaking out too.

She was puzzled by that nutty, cryptic response from her father. He had always behaved as straight arrow and no nonsense as the acerbic "let me hear just the facts mam" Sheriff Forbes. He never once bought into the magical mystery tour stuff that Grams had been teaching her. Where had he gotten all of that new age crap from? Could her Gram's ghost be influencing him somehow?

He had to be grieving and in a daze from Gram's passing, along with everything else. As if being an inexperienced person witnessing not one, but two frightening vampires in one afternoon wasn't enough to send any sane man over the edge, then he was subjected to communing with the ghost of his own recently deceased mother.

Bonnie was terribly anxious about her Dad. He got all bent out of shape just by listening to her read that itty bitty slip of paper from a fortune cookie. She'd have to get Damon to glamour him into forgetting all about this later, it would be safer that way for everyone involved. That is, if she and her beloved vampire even survived the rest of this bewildering encounter with Gram's angry specter.

Joe slowly lowered his arms down to his side and shut his eyes as if in deep meditation, or prayer. Sheila stared at her son for a few seconds then she released her hold on Damon who slumped weakly to his knees. The ghost drifted away from him to camp out in the corner.

* * *

That was Elena's cue, she hurried to help Bonnie limp to Damon's side where the little witch kneeled into his ardent embrace. They clung tightly to each other for support, gathering their strength for what may lay ahead of them.

Stefan passed the stake off to Elena like a baton, with it she guarded their backs, while Stefan stayed * frosty * on point in front of them and watched as the bonded couple obviously communicated using only their body language. Bonnie was weeping softly as Damon gently wiped the tears away from her cheeks before kissing her passionately, not giving a hoot about what anyone else dared to say about it.

A cold breeze swirled around the room, at first Elena thought that the central air unit had kicked on before she realized that the bright sunlight beaming through the window was rapidly fading. An approaching storm front was an unholy black sackcloth swallowing up the sky. The temperature plummeted and frost coated the glass in an opaque sheet, icy dread knotted in her gut. Something wicked this way comes....both of the young women shivered.

Bonnie and Elena's warm breath grew visible in foggy white puffs wafting out to encircle their frightened faces. The wind howled as thunder rolled in a low rumbling echo announcing the biblical deluge of hail, rain and sleet that poured from the stratosphere. Damon rose to his feet pulling Bonnie closer still, he could feel the pulse in her neck beating a panicked tattoo beneath his thumb.

Stefan hastend to gather Elena against his tense lanky length. Stefan whispered a few comforting assurances in Elena's ear, nuzzling his nose into the silken chocolate fall of her hair. His hooded brooding green eyes met his brother's fierce piercing cobalt glow in an unspoken pact. They would fight to protect the treasures that were now theirs... mates, the word plucking a primal chord in each of them. They would fight to protect each other... brother, a word whose meaning for them had rusted, but now was fulgently restored .

As the storm outside battered the house, inside a tungston white hot flash of lightening forked out from the epicenter that was a bubble of plasma morphing around Joe Bennett. It expanded to form a spherical eddy of crackling energy that sucked anything not tied down into it's spinning, whining vortex.

The bricketts of burned books, stubby candles, and seared knick-knacks that were on the floor went first, followed by the bigger items like the shutters and shades, the blankets and pillows, the lamp, the framed photos....even the Johnny Depp poster disappeared into the mini hurricane from hell.

The widening maw of the portal began to spit out heat even as it's suction grew stronger, spinning ever faster the discord of sound was deafening. The furniture skidded across the wooden floor towards the center of the room. Damon dug his heels in and clutched Bonnie more firmly to him, she was so tiny that she was lifted up once, her robe flapping open to catch like a sail...She screamed...with her voice and in his head via their link.

( Damon !, Oh Goddess ! Please don't let go of me !, if you do I'll kill you a second time! )

Damon couldn't help but grin at his little witch's undaunted spunk, he slung his strong legs around her and locked his ankles together,

( I think that's the general idea of this ...what ever the freak it is !... ...Don't worry, I promise I won't let you go, Sally Field. You know you'd make an awfully cute flying nun, Cara Bella ! )

Wriggling them to the floor, he shielded her as he laid them facing each other, arms and legs interwoven. He figured that the change in their center of gravity would help counter their bodies resistance against the wind. Bonnie squeezed her arms around Damon's neck so tautly that if he were merely a human it would have come close to strangling him. Not that he was the one complaining.

( Yeah, well I have no idea what could create a phenomenon like that. By the way flying without an airplane is for the birds, Mr. Crow ! I'd prefer a first class ticket with you to say Hawaii, or Tahiti. Thank-you very much!)

( Well, don't knock it til you've tried it Sabrina ! Besides couldn't you just twitch your little nose and make us a super-sonic broomstick hmmm? No? That's all right, never mind. Ask and ye shall receive ! It's a date then, as soon as we are able to arrange it..A tropical island paradise vacation awaits ! Sand, surf, rum-runners and you in a bikini, oh yeah!!! )

Bonnie chortled as she ducked into his chest, shielding her face from any whirling debris. Only Damon could make her laugh at a time like this. She hoped that her father had been able to take cover somewhere.

Damon searched for Stefan and Elena and saw that they were safely tangled up around each other too. Stefan had used his additional height to wedge them both into the bathroom door jam. Elena's long, slim legs straddled him easily. Suddenly another bolt of lightening arced out of the sphere and the light bulbs in the ceiling fan and above the bathroom medicine cabinet shot out with a blaze of sparks.

The plasma orb had just imploded in upon itself and blinked out of existence. Without the crescendo of the wind the room was deadly quiet. Bonnie squinted her eyes straining, her attempt reflected only a cavern of ebony pitch, neither Bonnie nor Elena could see a thing. In the hallway and the kitchen it was the same story, the entire house was dark.

Then from a fractured slit of an aperture in a ghoulish acid yellow haze, twin pinpoints of red embers emerged and moved in the darkness. They became a nightmarish shadow of an ashy ivory boned skull with empty flaming eye sockets. It loomed upon Damon and Bonnie. Damn Ghosts !!! The vampire had Bonnie off her feet and was carrying her bridal style in an instant exit.

The storm had went from a freezing hail and sleet laden rain to a thick pea soup fog. The electricity was out all over town. Damon sat Bonnie on her feet in the driveway long enough to confer with Stefan who was directly behind them with Elena. Time ticked by while they debating on weither to pile four passengers into a two passenger Jaguar AJ-V8 sports car or risk going back inside the house to search for Sheila's keys to the Omni Blue Honda Element that was stored in the garage.

Joe Bennett's Impala and keys were no longer on the property, he must have made it out of his mother's house and left to go back to check on his own home. Bonnie prayed that her Dad was alright.

* * *

A soft meow made the girls pause and look up into the leafy shade of Gram's maple tree. A shaking, soaking wet, black kitten with silver sage green eyes peered down at them miserably. Elena tried to reach him but she wasn't tall enough,

" Oh poor baby !, I think he's lost. He must have gotten scared in the storm and climbed up into the tree, but now he's afraid to come back down again."

Elena gave Stefan one of her sweetest smiles and batted her long lashed, big brown doe eyes at him... he was sunk.

" We can't just leave him here all alone, Will you hop up there and get him down? "

Bonnie nodded to Damon saying, "Well if he's not going to do it, will you ?..please? "

Damon made an annoyed face, {What was it about furry little critters that made females forget about anything else ? Like dangerous unstable spirits.}

Now it was his turn to cave, Bonnie used their link, ( If you rescue him for me, I promise that I'll grant you any favor that you ask for.)

Damon was many things, but stupid was not one of them. He knew a good deal when one arose. His smile was lecherous with anticipation. Stefan grinned back guessing what was going on and said,

" Elena asked me first, let me at least give it a try."

Damon bowed gallantly to his brother, then scanned the area for trouble... the kitten meowed pitifully.

" Be my guest, we should hurry it up though...this is not what I would call a smart move considering...Wooo-ooos he made a spooky ghost voice and a fluttering hand gesture."

Stefan agilely swung up onto one of the lower branches and held out his hand to the kitten.

" Here kitty, kitty, kitty... come on, I won't hurt you."

It crawled closer but then it puffed up like a porcupine, hissing and spitting at Stefan, trying to scratch him. Stefan frowned then gracefully dropped back down onto sidewalk, empty-handed. Damon smirked while Bonnie and Elena covered their mouths and giggled.

" O.K. Well that was a bust, I'm sorry Elena, but I don't think he likes me."

Elena kissed Stefan adding,

"He must not have very good taste. Thanks for trying though."

Damon snarked to Bonnie, (More like **she** knows that Stefan would think that **kitty,** **kitty,** **kitty** would **taste** good.)

Bonnie snarked back, (Oh, You are so bad..) Out loud she smiled innocently, " Let Damon give it a shot,"

Damon quickly took off his leather jacket and handed it to Bonnie, flexing his biceps he kissed each one quipping,

"Stand back Stefan and let me show you how a real man with big guns does it."

Damon acted like he was going to haul himself up onto a higher branch, then he stopped and stared at the little kitten, glowing silver sage eyes to glowing cobalt blue ones. Damon's pupils danced.....he was glamouring the kitten.

" Come on Miss Kitty. Don't you want to come home with me?, I'll take very good care of you, just ask Bonnie. She'll be there too and trust me, you'll grow to love her as much as I do."

The feline mite meowed once and jumped out of the tree landing right into Damon's waiting arms. Damon took his jacket back from Bonnie and wrapped the purring midnight fuzz ball in it, then he handed the soft bundle to Bonnie...rasping in her ear playfully...

( Go ahead, you can call me the pussy whisperer. )

Bonnie blushed then teased him,

(Hmmm-promises, promises. I guess that means it'll be your job to clean out the litter-box.)

Elena and Stefan were happy to observe the other couple's easy flirtatious back and forth banter, even if half of it was on their own private wavelength so to speak...{They were getting used to the long, meaningful silences between them.} Elena had to ask Stefan, How come you didn't know that she was a girl kitty?"

Before he could answer her, they both observed that Bonnie had stopped petting her new baby and was standing by the Jag with a weird expression on her face. Once again the cloying sweet scent of roses and jasmine hung thick in the air. When a taloned skeletal finger crept out of the lilac bushes and caressed along the little witch's jaw... her high, shrill screech rang out shattering the malignant stillness that had washed over the neighborhood.

Damon's wild alpha male challenge growl sounded exactly like the lethal back off warning that it was. Stefan's second in the pride feral roar ensured that whoever or whatever that had overstepped their territorial boundaries and touched one of **their** **females, ** now knew better than to try it again lest they wanted to sacrifice a limb...or a life.

* * *

Bonnie felt Elena bump against her as the two vampires herded them closer together. She couldn't see anyone because it was still so dark, but she did hear the faint swish, swish, swish of fabric and the clump, clump, clump of boots upon the pavement as someone walked from across the street towards them -giving away their position....

Sheila's gossamer construct peeled away from the side of the shed. Damon and Stefan were already in full vampire defensive mode, fangs, veins and attitudes.

Bonnie herself was tired of all of this mysterious popping in and out and getting scared half to death by her own grandmother, ghost or not. She was determined to get to the bottom of this...tonight.

" Grams, You know that I love you, but I love Damon too. You are going to have to accept that and move on to...to.. wherever . You never finished answering Stefan's question about the tomb. If there's something important that you want to tell us, then please just say it. "

Grams looked at the four young adults standing there and she nodded to the lilac bushes. It was time for the revelation.

"Bonnie, meet your **real** father. Colonel **Joe** **Black-**Bennett**.** "

* * *

Bonnie did a double -take...What the...? Her little mouth was opened in a confused "0" as another large shadow stretched out from the bushes and coalesced in front of her. Bonnie felt her heart pounding erratically and her throat constricted as she gulped with fear.

The thing was at least seven feet tall with a barrel chest, trim waist, long muscular arms and legs. He boasted shoulders that any N.F.L. Defensive line- blocker would die for. What am I thinking...one probably did !

It's face was similar to the ivory and ash boney skull goblin that she had seen earlier. However, she could tell that this guy wasn't really a ghost. Nope, he was waaay scarier.

While his high cheeks were boney, they weren't actually bare bone. His smooth flesh was covered by thin, luminous gray skin that surrounded a square jaw, a straight aristocratic nose, a wide mouth with full lips and black lashed deep set eyes. Oh crap... This was the really frightening part...those eyes.

Where most people had a round black pupil, then a colored iris centered in the white of an eyeball. His were almost reversed. The pupil was a vertical white diamond, the iris...honest to goodness red and orange dancing flames,.. the "ball" solid obsidian.

His hands were huge, with **five** long skeletal fingers and a thumb tipped not by nails but by cinder shaded curving talons. { That's six digits per hand people...creepy!} An ornate gold ring with an oxblood red stone adorned the third finger on his left hand. So he was married, well goodie for him.

He wore an ebony floor length outer tunic woven from thick wool, complete with a deep cowled hood . Strange, ancient tribal symbols were embroidered on the cloth with red silk thread. Bonnie gasped as she recognized them- Druid symbols!!! He pulled the hood back to reveal more.

His wavy raven hair was streaked with silver and grew past his shoulder, he kept the front pulled back into a braided queue. Two ten inch curved horns sprouted from a ridge above his pointed ears. He wore a wireless bluetooth headset plugged into his left one.

He parted the tunic duster to display a matching ensemble of **black** leather, from his shirt, pants and boots to a set of ...yes, you guessed it **black **kevlar body armor. Seems like **black** was Mr. Black's favorite color yuk-yuk-yuk. [He could have raided Damon's closet, except none of the vampire's swanky clothes would have fit this behemoth.]

An assortment of wicked looking bladed weapons and loaded guns were strapped to his limbs and sewn into the inside lining of the tunic.

(Were those some sort of grenades fastened to his belt?)...

Damon was about to answer Bonnie's mental inquiry via their link when the creature spoke first...

" Yes, Bonnie... they're a sci- ops formula of liquid silver nitrate and acetylide mixed with gunpowder and C4 for taking out rabid were-wolves. I'll be happy to teach you how to use them."

Bonnie's mocha coloring paled visibly as her shell- shocked mind tried to wrap around the fact that more than just the Druid symbols were familiar. The being before her was speaking in a gravellier version of her father's rich baratone voice...the same one belonging to the man, the **human** everyone called Joe Bennett.

Stefan caught Damon's scowling gaze...,

" This explains a lot. Witch craft elemental abilities aside, it's one more reason why Bonnie has such powerful potential when using fire. Her father is a shape shifting fire demon. He's a R.E.A.P.E.R. Call sign for Rapid, Emergency, Assault, Paranormal, Extraction, Reclamation.

Elena gave her boyfriend an incredulous salute, then flipping her long brunett locks she stepped forward and bravely addressed the fire demon himself,

" Grams called you Colonel, does that mean that you're a member of some secret un-dead military group or something?"

Boosted by her best friend's brazen confidence [even if it was misplaced] Bonnie chimed in,

" First of all, he's **not** my father ! So stop saying that ! Grams what is going on? Look Mister, I don't know what kind of sick game it is that you are playing here, but I'm not joining in. I don't care if you do sound like a memorex recording of Dad's voice on steroids. Where is he? What did you do to him?"

The fire demon smiled at the young women as if they were as adorable [and harmless] as the kitten sleeping in Bonnie's arms. Conversely his full set of serrated teeth expertly advertised that he himself was a hazardous predator.

" You two always were full of questions, ever since kindergarden. Does the old adage curiosity killed the cat ring any bells with either of you? I'm **ex**- military, semi-retired from an elite special forces unit. My classification is top-secret clearance only. Yep, Bonnie- I bet you never imagined that you were a third generation army brat.

I'm sorry but for your own safety, there are a lot of things that I've had to keep from you. I assure you , I **am** your father, the human that you call Daddy, **we're** **one** **and** **the** **same, **always have been. Well, I guess seeing is believing. "

The fire demon, the Colonel or whatever you wish to call him stepped back a few steps and stood at attention, immobile as a statue. A mesh- work of glittering static particules began to cross section his body. The air surrounding him seemed to ripple as his form waxed and expanded then liquified and shrank only to become dense again. His very molecules mutated and rearranged as he shifted from his true demon body to the human one he used when off duty in the Terra realm.

Bonnie stumbled in shock. Her Dad, still dressed in the currently tailored for his size black armor and such, now occupied the spot where the demon had been. When he started to shuffle over to give her a hug she balked holding her hand out to stop him,

" No !, Wait ! How do I know this isn't a trick ?"

* * *

Joe Black shrugged and nostalgically recalled a moment from Bonnie's childhood.

" Do you remember the time that you, Elena and Caroline were playing at our house and you decided that it would be more fun to go hang out at Elena's rather than stay there with *boring old Mrs. Towery ,* who by the way was your Great Fairy God Aunt on your mother's side. She doted on you, spoiling you rotten with homemade candy and cookies whenever she visited. You hurt her feelings that day when you wanted to leave.

Grams nodded in agreement,

" I had to teach a class that afternoon and she happily covered the sitter zone for me. She wanted to stay close to her Bon-Bon as she called you."

Joe Black seemed sad when he said,

" Yes, she's gone now too..... But I digress, before you bailed on your Auntie you let Caroline talk you and Elena into sneaking out with my best electric razor. She wanted to use it to give your entire Barbie doll collection new summer haircuts. All of that sticky synthetic hair gummed it up so bad that the motor overheated and quit. You felt so guilty about it that you used every dime in your piggy bank to go buy me another one. "

Bonnie gushed somewhat bemused,

"Oh my gosh, I'd completely forgotten about that. It was not long after Mom had passed away and that razor was one of the last presents that she had given you. How did you know?... You were out of town at the time. The three of us were only eight years old and Elena's folks were at work. Jenna was babysitting her and Jeremy. We begged Jenna to drive us to Walmart. "

Elena brightened, mirth twinkling in her brown eyes,

" She was barely sixteen and made us swear never to tell another soul about it because she had just gotten her driver's license and wasn't supposed to use the family truckster unless it was a dire emergency."

Bonnie embellished further,

" Jenna was so safety conscious that she made poor Jeremy sit in the middle of the backseat, strapped into one of those kiddy booster car-seats that he had outgrown,.. oh say.. probably two years earlier. He hated it, being squeezed between me and Caroline like a baby while you sat up front with Jenna. She insisted that we all buckle up before she would even start the car. When we got back I replaced the broken razor with the new one and then I let Jeremy dig a big hole in the backyard so that we could bury the trashed Remco in it. "

Joe Black laughed along with his daughter and her friends,

" Of course as a shape shifter I never actually needed to use a razor, your Mom understood that, she had gotten it for me as a keep up with the Jone's gift for appearance's sake. It was a gag that we shared, pin-pointing little normal everyday absurdities that helped us while we pretended to be a **normal **couple**.**"

Damon and Stefan had listened to the conversation with interest, they identified with the demon all too well. The bluetooth headset in Joe's ear squealed audibly with feedback and he fiddled with the interface waiting to hear the entire communication before he reacted.

"Duty calls !" he snapped. He shifted back to his demonic persona and hefted an automatic rifle taking sight and tracking the street in a sweeping motion with the gun. A Banshee's wail off in the distance signaled that a death was imminent.

* * *

Out of nowhere Elena swayed on her feet, Stefan caught her and held her up. The Colonel barked to Stefan,

"Is she hit?"

Stefan's face looked panicked as he ran his hands over her when she fell limp. He couldn't see anything, no wounds, no bleeding. Other than looking paler than normal, she seemed fine. Yet she obviously wasn't. He gently patted her cheek,

" I'm not sure. Elena what's wrong?, tell me where it hurts." Her voice was shaky,

" I feel so weak, it doesn't hurt, I just want to go to sleep...let me go to sleep , my head zzzz..."

She passed out. The Colonel paced closer and perused Elena coolly analyzing the problem. Swiveling to Sheila he tersely asked,

" How long has it been?"

She twittered her fingers as she counted,

" About thirty-five minutes."

To say that the Colonel was agitated was an understatement. He never made rookie mistakes anymore, until now. Giving Stefan a scathing glance as if he were an insect under a microscope he grumbled,

"Shit !!! Is she still fully human? I'm sorry, but I just assumed that as a consort to a vampire she would have been more immune to my presence. I can't believe that you've never shared a blood exchange with her. What kind of a peculiar vampire are you anyway? Nothing like your brother I see."

Damon couldn't be sure but that last tidbit of what the demon had said bore a hint of grudging respect for {lack of a better term} his new son-in-law, Hmmm? The Colonel continued,

"Exposure to my true self has started the countdown on her death clock. An unfortunate result of an encounter with a R.E.A.P.E.R. for a regular human. It's lowered her resistance to an Incubi soporific dart, they don't leave any physical evidence behind. "

" She'll sleep until she slips into a coma while it saps her strength leading to her demise. Her name has already been logged into the book of dead souls. You have seventy two hours to either turn her or have her name erased from the book."

Bonnie and Damon felt their link hum with an identical thought,

( A book of the dead ?, the dream! )

Bonnie excitedly sputtered it out before Damon had a chance to,

"The black book from my dream ! The one that went along with the Grimmore sitting beside the rock at the Loch Of Sorrows !"

With a sardonic arch of his eyebrow Damon smirked,

" She means the **Necronomican** **Ex**-**Mortis** from **our** dream."

Sheila rushed over getting in his face,

" **You** shared a vision quest with **her** of our most sacred place ? Tell me everything that you saw. What happened while you were there?"

Bonnie blushed and Damon winked at her,

" Oh the usual, lone tower- all that was left of a crumbling down castle, huge lake, deep forest, big rocks, two musty old books-one red, one black. It was our first date and I'm not one to kiss and tell."

The Colonel received another dispatch through the headset and warned,

" Checkmate 2 reports that the raid on the tomb found no enemy hostiles in the perimeter. Empty Cupboard. There's been chatter on the civi-blue bands about several 11-14-wild animal attacks and a 10-54d possible dead body, X-RAY says affirmative 62b burglary at the local hospital. N.O.R.A. buzzed, no contraband {drugs} are missing, but the blood bank's entire stock of frozen M.R.E.S {the vampire equivalent of meals ready to eat-plasma donations} and extra c-sups{command supplies} have been swiped. The unfriendly's {vampire's} are liberated and upwardly mobile. We need to get you four to a safe house ASAP. "

Stefan angrily rejected that idea,

" No !, Absolutely not ! Elena should be rushed to the E.R.

" The Colonel wasn't detoured by his outburst,

" Son, the best way to help her now is to go back to the boarding house and secure it. Once you're in lockdown, you will need to give her some of your blood. That should tide her over long enough for her to regain a few hours of consciousness. Then my man, you two will have to have the **big** talk.

If she doesn't want to be turned, then you and your Scoobie Doo Bunch here are going to have to teleport to Edinburgh Scotland, circa Caledonia 1692. That's where the Necronomican Ex-Mortis is hidden, at the bottom of the Loch Of Sorrows.

Sheila harrumphed,

" It doesn't matter if Elena wants to be turned or not. Bonnie, you and Damon have to make that journey. Your shared dream was a calling, a message. I told you that Damon must be cleansed, only then he will be allowed to take his ovate vows. Right alongside you when you take yours.

You are bonded, joined as one and nothing can change that. I suspect that your wyrds were meant to unfold this way, it was inevitable. It may even be prophecy unfolding. We shall have to wait and see.

However, Damon forgive my pun, but I think you may have bitten off more than you could chew when you linked yourself with my grandchild. Your own dark aura cannot be allowed to completely corrupt Bonnie's signature of light. You are each other's ying and yang, there is a little bit of good inside of everything bad, and there is a little bit of bad inside of everything good.

You two are the epitome of that balance. That tightrope walk will be precarious at best considering the war mongers gathering as we speak.

If the Anunnaki cannot communicate with their Caledonian Oracle, or should I say Oracles, plural now since that means you too mister. The Earth really could wind up being just the third rock from the sun. The Anunnaki have the power to annihilate life as we know it on a planetary scale, burning our big blue marble in the sky into a cinder. Let me see you bounce back from that one vampire.

Oh, I almost forgot, in case the fate of the world isn't enough of an incentive for you to behave yourself Damon, here's another....Your name is logged in the Necronomican, along with Stefan's and... Katherine's, plus all of the other vampire's in existence today.

It may be up to you and Bonnie to decide which ones are given salvation, which ones will meet their final death and which ones will be dragged to hell by Colonel Black and his team. "

Damon's mind was churning while he reached for Bonnie's trembling hand, They would be each other's anchors, whatever may come. Bonnie's voice was morose as she murmured,

"Grams how the heck do you expect me to teleport us anywhere? Will you be coming with us? How about you Dad?"

Grams took the lead,

" I can teach you how to create the portal here on this end, and open it again when you need to return. As to weither we can go along, no sweet heart we can't. This is something that the four of you will have to do on your own. Ghosts cannot use the portals, something about the design of the realm phase matrix messes with our projection abilities."

The Colonel reassured his daughter. You'll all be just fine. Trust your gut, trust Damon. I would go, but I'm under orders to contact a fledgling Slayer here in Mystic Falls. He doesn't know it yet but Mr. Alaric Saltzman is going to be my first civillian protege. He's got great instincts, he inherited them from his very, very, very old grandfather....Thor, the God of Thunder"

I predict that there will be a dramatic drop in the rouge vampire population before you guys even get back. Go on, we'll rendezvous at the boarding house and help you get everything set-up. Both the fire demon and the ghost sighed as they urged the two couples towards the Jag.

Stefan climbed into the passenger seat and tenderly cradled the slumbering Elena in his lap. Damon got in next and pushed his seat back as far as it would go so that Bonnie could sit on his lap. There wasn't much space between her and the steering column and she nervously leaned over sideways every time another car approached them. Through their link she instantly sent him everything that she saw on the road, but soon found it unnecessary.

He chuckled wickedly at the way it totally unnerved her that he could drive using only his radar-like vampire senses to tell where they were going. He knew when to stop, start and shift gears, even with her petite curves perched in his way. With her face so close to his, he couldn't resist brushing a kiss across her cheek. He used their bond to vent a few nagging thoughts that he hadn't been able to let go...

( Bonnie, Your Dad, the Colonel is a R.E.A.P.E.R. And a part of his job, other than taking out bad asses, is to escort souls to their judgement, be it to heaven or hell depending on the person, or they could be cleansed and allowed to continue on with their journey of enlightenment. Who was supposed to escort your Gram's soul?, and to where? Is she opting for the whole cleaning thing?

She said that I had to be cleansed before I could take Ovate vows with you. Who are we supposed to be Ovates to? Was your Dad there for her...or for me? Also do you realize that both your Mom's and your Gram's names are probably in that book as well ? I wonder what we are supposed to do about that? Is it just me or are you smelling a set up here too? ).....TBC


End file.
